A Sister's Story
by 6.7.I.M.P.A.L.A.L.O.V.E
Summary: SEASON 1: The Kents had a daughter when they found Clark during that fateful Meteor shower... a daughter that was changed by the meteor rocks around her.Join Izzy Kent on her journey through high school battling meteorfreaks trying to pass exams and love?
1. 01 Pilot

**This my friends is a test run of my new Smallville Fanfic... let me know what you think yeah?**

**I may or may not continue it, but it depends on any reviews you give me :D**

After they had me, my parents found out that they couldn't have any more kids... it devastated mom, but dad seemed quite happy having just one. It was obvious to me however, even at a young age, that dad would have preferred to have a boy. As soon as I was old enough he had me tossing a football with him, playing catch and learning how to do all the things a man would teach a son. That was one of the biggest differences between me and my best friend, Lana Lang.

The day of the meteor shower... everything changed.

"_Abracadabra!" Lana giggled as she waved her wand towards us as we entered the flower shop her mom owned. Her aunty Nell was looking after her._

"_Afternoon Nell," dad greeted as I skipped alongside him, Lana grinned at the sight of me and hopped off the counter to hug me._

"_Jonathan!... and Martha." Nell greeted as Lana and I giggled together, she was showing off her dress... a big contrast to my baggy jeans and Crows jersey. "What a surprise. What brings the reclusive Kent's to town?"_

"_Tulips," I answered loudly making everyone look at me, "Red ones."_

"_How about tiger orchids?" Nell suggested to dad making me pout pathetically._

"_No thanks Nell," dad grinned, "Izzy has her heart set on Tulips."_

"_Yes. Well, they are a very uncomplicated flower," the woman muttered making me frown slightly before turning away from the woman, never did like her._

"_That is a beautiful dress, Lana," mom commented to my friend, "Are you a princess?"_

"_I'm a fairy princess," she replied making me grin as dad and mom talked to Nell again. "Do you want to make a wish?" She asked me._

"_Yes, yes, yes!" I grinned widely as I hopped up and down._

"_Okay, ready?" She questioned with her wand poised I thought really, really hard before nodding. "Abracadabra!"_

_With that dad had scooped me into his arms and indicated we were leaving making me wave to Lana before clinging my arms around dad's neck. "What did you wish for?" he asked me making me smile and shrug._

"_Can't tell or it won't come true," I countered with a giggle before resting my head on his shoulder._

"_Looks like Smallville won again," Mom commented as she smelt the flowers they'd bought._

_Once I was strapped into the middle of the back seat of the car we were on our way. With a little stubbornness however, I pulled my seatbelt off and got to my knees to look out the back window like always. A horrific sight met my eyes though, there were balls of fire falling from the sky heading straight for Smallville. With a loud bang something landed in the field beside us making dad swerve the car before breaking harshly... I could feel my body flying backwards towards the front of the car before the sound of breaking glass filled the air around me and it felt like I was flying._

_The next few minutes were a blur; I'd pulled myself up from where I'd landed in a ditch full of green stones before I walked towards a boy my age, he was looking at mom and dad who were pulling themselves from the flipped car. "Daddy, Mommy?" I asked curiously making her look at me as dad pulled me into his arms once he was on his feet. "Little boy's naked."_

_Mom retrieved a blanket from the car and wrapped the naked boy up in it before she pulled him up into her arms. "Kids don't just fall out of the sky," Dad commented as we walked through the fields looking for the boy's parents._

"_Then where did he come from?" Mom asked him._

"_He's what I wished for," I commented making the two look at me, I smiled widely at the boy who returned it, "I wished for a brother."_

"_He must have parents," dad carried on making me pout only he'd come to a stop and I turned my head to see what he was looking at._

_There was a big metal thing in a ditch that looked like it had fallen with the fireballs, "Well, if he does, they're definitely not from Kansas," mom commented quietly as dad put me on my feet mom did the same with the boy._

"_Hi," I chirruped at him as mom and dad talked making him turn to me as I walked over to him. Another smile crossed his face as he held the blanket around himself and I smiled widely back before throwing my arms around him in a hug._

"_Izzy honey, we can't keep him," dad sighed as he saw what I was doing. "What are we going to tell people – we found him out in a field?"_

"_We didn't find him," I whined making them look at me, "He found us."_

It was a few years later, that my new strangeness started to show. I had been swinging from the branch of the tree in the front yard, just hanging by my legs when I fell, the sound of a loud crack filling the yard making dad spin around from__where he'd been fixing the tractor engine.

"_Izzy!" he shouted in a panic as I groaned from where I lay, cradling my arm in my hand as mom and Clark ran from the house at the sound of his shout. "Oh my god, your arm."_

"_I'm okay daddy," I muttered as I held it to my chest, not letting him look at it. He didn't listen though, he took my arm in his hand and looked it over._

_As all four of us watched, the odd shape of the bone, that was clearly broken, snapped itself the right way around making me yelp. The skin that had broken seemed to stitch itself back up, and the dark bruise faded. "What just happened?" Mom asked in shock as I grinned widely._

"_I HAVE SUPERPOWERS!" I yelped in excitement as Clark grinned at me... I hopped to my feet quickly and flung myself at him making him hug me and spin me around. "We're awesome!" The two of us carried on bouncing around, completely unaware of the shocked and worried looks mom and dad were sharing._

It wasn't long after that, that dad had a talk with us about making sure other people never knew about our powers. It sounded smart, well, now it started smart, back then I just wanted to tell everyone I had superpowers so that I could be a superhero. He kept at it though, and I kept quiet, Clark kept quiet and by the time we were in high school and I'd filled my brain with every comic book in the Marvel collection, I realised that if people knew what I could do, my life would never be normal again.

***Freshman Year (9th Grade)***

"Clark's still in bed," I called behind me as I headed to the front door, "I'm going to school!"

"Have a nice day honey!" Mom shouted after me as I shut the door behind me and made my way down the yard to where the bus was going to stop. Once it was there, I hopped up and sent a grin towards Chloe and Pete who grinned as I slid into the seat next to Chloe.

"I got five for the both of you, says he doesn't make it," I smirked at the two of them making them swap a look before nodding, we shook hands.

"No way," Chloe muttered a few minutes later, I followed her gaze as the doors closed and the driver started the bus back up.

"I told you," I smirked at them as they each handed me a five.

"I can't believe you bet against your brother," Pete laughed slightly.

"Statistical fact number 12," I smirked at him, "If Clark moved any slower he'd be going backwards." As I said it though, a loud thump sounded on the roof of the bus making me frown up at it before clearing the expression off of my face and passing it off as me leaning my head against the back of the seat.

"Did you hear that?" Chloe asked in shock making me shake my head.

"So, has anyone asked you to the dance yet?" Pete asked us suddenly making me look at him.

"Not yet," Chloe shrugged, "Izzy?"

"A few of the jock straps," I replied, "Said no, though." She sent me a shocked look making me shrug slightly, "What?"

"You got asked, and you said no?" she confirmed making me smirk and nod, "Why?"

"They're all assholes," I replied simply. "If nothing pans out with you-know-who, you guys should go to..."

"Iz, do you want to make a commercial break from the soap opera in your head?" Chloe interrupted, "I've told you 100 times, I'm not interested in Clark."

"You're vehement denial has been duly noted," Pete smirked making me grin at him as the bus pulled to a stop. Grabbing my bag I made my way off of it and elbowed Pete in the side pointedly.

"Well, Izzy's right. Maybe you and I could go together, I mean, not a date-date thing, more of a friend-friend thing." Pete asked Chloe as we moved to our usual spot on the wall to wait for Clark.

Chloe looked surprised, but as she opened her mouth to reply, "Hi guys!" Clark was behind us, making me smirk at him as I tilted my head back.

"Hi bro," I smirked at him.

"You left me in bed," he accused, "You could have woken me up."

"If I did, I'd be short ten bucks," I shrugged at him with a smirk.

"Didn't you... weren't you...?" Chloe stuttered in shock.

"I took a shortcut," he shrugged making me suppress a smirk, nice cover.

"Through what? A black hole?" she asked disbelievingly.

"Yeah there's one on Messer's field," I smirked at her, "Didn't you know that?" Chloe glared at me slightly as I pulled tongues at her.

"Clark, excuse out intrepid reporter," Pete interrupted what was going to be an argument, "Seems as though her weirdar is on Def Con 5."

"Yeah she thought something was attacking the bus," I grinned widely.

"Okay, just because everyone else chooses to ignore the strange things that happen in this leafy little hamlet, doesn't mean they don't happen," Chloe defended herself making me smirk again.

"Chloe I'd love to hang with you and Scooby in the Mystery Machine," I smirked at her, "But I gotta go convince Lana not to make me join the Pompom League."

"She wants you to join the squad?" Pete laughed slightly making me smirk and nod before I walked away from them to where Lana was talking to the rest of the pep squad.

"Lanaaa," I whined as I walked up to them, the girls smiled in greeting but it was obvious I wasn't very liked by the others.

"Izzy," she whined back making me grin widely before hugging her, "You have your permission slip?"

"I have it but I wanted to talk to you," I pouted pathetically making her roll her eyes and nod before walking away from the girls with me. "Lana, you're a Pompom and I love you. But if I join I can't exactly go around making remarks about you guys anymore and you know how much I'd miss that." She frowned at me and arched an eyebrow. "What I'm getting at is..."

"You don't want to be a cheerleader," she finished for me, looking disappointed, "Izzy you said that you'd join so we could have practice together and go to pep rallies and..."

"And be in the same social circle, yeah," I nodded. "But can you really see me hanging out with those Barbie Dolls? I'd fit in more with Whitney and the Jockstraps." She sighed and nodded, "You're still my best friend Lana... you're my girl remember?"

"Yeah," she smiled brightly before hugging me again, "We'll make time for each other, right?"

"Right," I nodded in confirmation, "You couldn't get rid of me if you tried baby girl."

"Good thing I like having you around," she smirked at me as I gave her a cheesy grin, "My life would be boring without you Iz."

"I know," I told her with a nod before someone face planted behind me making me turn to see Clark making me chuckle. "You okay down there bro?"

"Yeah," he groaned as he pushed himself up, I helped him onto the low wall as Lana picked his books up for him.

"Nietzche," She read the author of the book, "didn't realise you had a dark side, Clark."

"Doesn't everybody?" Clark smile weakly making me glance at the necklace around Lana's neck... it was obviously meteor rock.

"Yeah, I guess so," Lana smiled at him, "So what are you? Man or Superman?"

"I uh..." he started, embarrassed.

"Clark here hasn't figured that out yet," I answered for him, "Right bro?" He nodded in agreement as he sent me a thankful look.

"Lana!" Whitney was suddenly walking up to us, "There you are. Hey Izzy, Clark." We nodded and he turned to me with a grin. "I was wondering if you could do me a huge favour."

"Now that depends on what it is," I smirked at him as Lana grinned at me, knowing I was teasing him.

"Could you check my English paper?" he asked hopefully, "I didn't finish it until 2 this morning. I'm not too sure about the ending."

"I'm sure it's great," Lana soothed him as he gave me a wide eyed pout.

"Sure," I nodded making him grin before hugging me, his gaze landed on Clark again.

"Dude, are you feeling all right?" he asked him curiously, "You look like you're about to hurl."

"I'm fine," Clark bit out making Whitney grin as he led Lana and me away.

"Hey Clark!" I turned in time to see him toss a book at my brother, "You forgot one." Clark dropped all the books in his arms making me scowl darkly at Whitney.

"Really?" I growled at him as he grinned triumphantly.

"It was an accident," he tried to defend.

"Check your own damn paper," I growled at him before making my way back over to Clark to help him collect everything up. Once Lana and Whitney were a bit further away Clark was himself again.

"You didn't have to do that," he told me, "You're popular... you should just go with it."

"And leave my brother in the background?" I smirked at him, "I don't think so." He smiled brightly making me smile back widely.

The rest of my day went pretty much as usual, which is more than I can say for Clark... or Pete for that matter. Pete made the football team! Shocker! Clark, well dad made sure Clark couldn't try out so he didn't. Clark however, saved a millionaire's life instead.

I was at home already when the phone went making me grab it as I stirred the chilly in the pan, "Kent residence," I answered politely.

"Is this the parent or guardian of Clark Kent?" a voice on the other side asked.

"This is his sister," I replied, "My parents are out at the moment."

"Well, I need someone to come and collect Clark, there was an accident," the man told me and I panicked, asking him where.

Five minutes later I pulled up in the neighbour's truck and hopped out before running to where Clark was sat on the back of an ambulance with a towel around his shoulders. "Clark, are you okay?" I yelped at him as I ran over.

"Yeah, I'm okay," he nodded simply as I hugged him, "Where's dad?"

"He's at the market with mom," I replied, "I borrowed Nell's truck. Who the hell was the maniac that was driving the car?"

"That would be me," A smooth voice replied making me turn, "Lex Luthor."

I frowned at the man, "Well I'm Isabelle Kent this is my brother, Clark." I told him

"Thanks for saving my life," Lex smiled at Clark as I looked between the two.

"I'm sure you would have done the same thing," Clark smiled back making me frown, I wasn't too sure.

"You have quite an extraordinary brother there, Miss Kent," Lex told me, "If there's any way I can repay you..."

"Drive slower," I snapped at him before leading Clark away to the truck, tossing a scowl over my shoulder to the millionaire.

"I've never seen you being rude to anyone before," Clark commented as I drove us home.

"Yeah well, I wasn't nearly killed," he told me making me roll my eyes at him.

"Technicality," I shrugged making him chuckle and shove me slightly.

"What happened?" Dad demanded as we walked into the house after dropping the truck off at Nell's.

"Clark will tell you everything," I replied with a grin before heading to the loft in the barn.

"Mom! Who's truck?" I yelled as Clark and I stood at the door the next day.

"Clark's," she replied, "From Lex Luthor!" I grinned at Clark before running over and grabbing the note on the windscreen.

"Dear Clark," I read aloud, "Drive safely. Always in your debt. A maniac in a Porsche."

"I don't believe it," Clark grinned as mom walked over to us, "Where are the keys?"

"Your father has them," she replied making me groan slightly and swap a look with Clark. We both turned to make our way to dad who was shredding some wood in the chipper.

"I know how much you want it, son," Dad commented as soon as he saw us, "But you can't keep it."

"Why not?" I complained.

"I saved the guy's life," Clark added.

"So you think you deserve a prize?" Dad accused.

"That's not what I meant," Clark groaned, "Look, how about you drive the new one and I'll drive the old one? Everybody wins!"

"This is not about winning, Clark," Dad told him.

"Dad it's not like the Luthor's can't afford it," I attempted.

"Do you want to know why that is?" Dad snapped, "Do you remember, Mr Bell?" I nodded, "We used to go fishing on his property? How about Mr Guy? He used to send us pumpkins every Halloween." I glanced at Clark who was frowning slightly, "Well, Lionel Luthor promised to cut them in on a deal. He sent them flashy gifts. Only once they sold him their property, he went back on his word. He had them evicted."

"You're judging Lex on his father?" I pointed out.

"No, I'm not," he replied, "I just want to make sure you know where the money came from that bought that truck." I practically pouted, it wasn't even my truck. "I know you're upset. But it's normal..."

"Normal?" Clark snapped as I glared at the floor, "How about this? Is this normal?" I watched as he turned the chipper back on and threw his fist into it. Dad panicked obviously, but when he pulled Clark's arm out it was only his shirt and the chipper that was damaged. "I didn't dive in after Lex's car! It hit me, at 60 miles an hour! Does that sound normal to you? I'd give anything to be normal."

"Completely agree," I grimaced making Clark turn to me and drape his arm around my shoulders.

"It's time, son," Dad told Clark making us both look up at him.

"Time for what?" Clark snarled slightly.

"The truth," dad replied. "I want you to take a look at something. I think it's from your parents. Your... real parents." He handed over a small metal octagon thing that had strange markings on it.

"What does it say?" I asked curiously. "I tried to decipher it for years but it's not written in any language known to man."

"What do you mean?" Clark asked as he looked up at dad.

"Your real parents weren't exactly from around... here," Dad replied hesitantly making me frown as I thought back to the first time I met Clark... only my mind didn't let me go back that far.

"Where are they from?" Clark asked and Dad glanced up making my jaw drop, "What are you trying to tell me, dad? That I'm from another planet?"

"I suppose you stash his spaceship in the attic?" I asked sarcastically.

"Actually," Dad smiled, "the Storm Cellar." My jaw dropped open again as I turned to Clark who was giving me a shocked look.

"Show us," I demanded and dad led us to the storm cellar. Once inside my gaze dropped on a strange metal thing that I took as a spaceship.

"This is how you came into our world," Dad told him, "It was the day of the meteor shower." My eyes widened in realisation.

"Wait, this is a joke, right?" Clark asked hopefully, "Why didn't you tell me about this before?"

"We wanted to protect you," Dad replied.

"Protect me from what?" he yelled, "You should have told me!" He turned to me, "Did you know?" I backed off slightly, frowning in confusion. "Izzy!" I shook my head hastily and he threw his arms in the air before super speeding away.

"Dad..." I muttered once he stopped shouting after him, he turned to me. "Clark's an alien? So what about me?" He frowned in thought, "I can do things that normal people can't, why?"

"I don't know," he replied honestly making me glare at the floor, "I think it has something to do with the meteor rocks you landed in when we crashed." Biting my lip I sighed and nodded before walking out, dad called me back, but like Clark I carried on going... only I didn't have super speed like him.

Walking through the town, I kicked at a stone ignoring the people who gave me curious looks as I passed them. Smallville was, for want of a better word, small... we all knew each other, but that didn't mean we all liked each other. Anyway, people were used to me practically bouncing off the walls, laughing and grinning no matter what, me walking down the street by myself, frowning in thought wasn't really normal.

"Hey, Izzy!" A voice called making me stop and turn to see one of the football jocks, Sean Kelvin. I smiled faintly and waited for him to catch up. "You okay?"

"Yeah," I lied with a smile, he seemed to buy it. "What's up?"

"I wanted to ask you something," he replied making me arch an eyebrow but nod for him to continue as we carried on walking down the street. "Uh, do you have a date for the dance?" I shook my head, "Do you, uh, want to go with me?"

"Look, Sean," I stopped and turned to him, "You're a great guy, don't get me wrong. But... I don't think that's a great idea."

"Why?" he asked curiously making me bite at my lip and look across the street for an excuse. Only, Whitney happened to be over there, getting out of his truck. "Oh." My eyes widened and I shook my head.

"No, not that," I tried to defend myself as he grinned.

"No, I get it," he smirked, "You're into Whitney. You realise he's going out with your best friend."

"I'm not..." I started but Whitney had jogged across the street to join us.

"Hey," he grinned, "You guys are the least likely people I know to be hanging out." I offered him a strained smile with a small shrug.

"We were talking about the dance," Sean replied and Whitney smirked and arched an eyebrow.

"You guys are going together?" he asked curiously as I glanced up at Sean who opened his mouth to say no.

"Yeah," I interrupted making both heads snap in my direction. I smiled fakely but brightly as I slipped my hand into Sean's. "He just asked me, and I said yes."

"Great," Whitney grinned widely, "I'm picking Lana up at seven, so why don't we carpool?" Sean gave me a once over before nodding.

"Yeah, sounds good," he nodded with a smirk as he took his hand from mine and draped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his side.

"Hey, I wanted to talk to you about that thing," Whitney told Sean, making me suppress an eye roll.

"I'll leave you guys too it," I smiled fakely again, before walking off, once I was far enough from them I rolled my eyes and huffed before pulling my phone out and dialling Lana.

"Hey! What's up?" she asked in shock, I didn't usually call, I usually texted.

"I need to talk, like, now," I replied simply making her giggle slightly.

"Well I'll be home in five if you want to come over." She told me

"I'll be there," I replied before putting my phone away and picking up the pace to a jog towards the empty roads headed to our farms. To my surprise, a jog/ run that usually took me twenty minutes took me less than five and I skid to a halt with a wide grin. New Power!

"Hey!" Lana smiled at me in greeting as I met her walking up her porch steps, "Are you okay?"

"I think I just made a big mistake," I replied honestly making her frown.

"YO!" I greeted Clark, Chloe and Pete the next day as I walked to the office for the school paper they all looked concerned making me arch an eyebrow. "What's wrong?" Chloe handed me a piece of paper with two pictures on it, "Who's this?"

"His name is Jeremy Creek," she replied, "This is a picture of his twelve years ago," she pointed at the left one, "And this is one took four hours ago."

"No way," I muttered as I looked at them, he hadn't aged a day. "That's not possible. He'd be like 26 or something." I looked up at Clark.

"She's right, it must just be a kid that looks like him," Clark suggested.

"My money was on the evil twin theory," Pete suggested, "till we checked the missing persons."

"Jeremy disappeared from the state infirmary a few days ago," Chloe handed me the paper for that too. "He's been in a coma for twelve years. They say he's suffered from massive electrolyte imbalance."

"That's why he hasn't aged a day," Pete added making me arch an eyebrow as I read the paper.

"So you're telling us he just woke up," Clark asked them curiously.

"Well, no, there was a huge electrical storm," Chloe explained, "And the hospital generator went down, and when it came back on, Jeremy was gone."

"So it charged him up..." I started as I looked at them.

"Like a Duracell," Pete nodded.

"And now he's back in Smallville, putting former jocks in comas," Clark commented, "Why?"

"Let me guess," I smirked making them look at me, "Twelve years ago... did Jeremy happen to be the Scarecrow?" Pete nodded as I looked at the other article, "Comatose boy found in field twenty yards from meteor strike."

"The exposure to the blast must have done something to his body," Chloe nodded to me.

"No, this can't be right," Clark argued.

"I think you should show them," Pete turned to Chloe making me frown.

"Show us what?" I asked curiously making her smiled and move to the back of the room where she pulled a curtain aside. There was a wall covered in articles and photos.

"It started out as a scrapbook, and just kind of mutated," Chloe told us as I pulled a picture off the wall. It was the front of a Time Magazine issue.

"Lana," I muttered as I looked at it. She was in her fairy princess costume, crying after what happened to her parents.

"I call it the Wall of Weird," Chloe told us happily. "It's everything bizarre and unexplained that's happened in Smallville since the meteor shower." I frowned slightly. "That's when it started – when the town went schizo."

I couldn't help it, I glanced up at Clark who looked devastated, "What do you think?" she asked us.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" Clark demanded as I looked back at the photo of Lana.

"Do you tell me everything that happens in your life?" She snapped back, "We all keep secrets, Clark."

"Lana," his eyes landed on the paper in my hand, "My fault. It's all, my fault."

"Clark," I started, but he had already stormed out of the room making me stop and turn back to the other two. I handed Chloe the picture back and headed out myself.

I didn't see Clark for the rest of the day, or at the dance that night either, the only reason I actually went was because Lana told me I wasn't allowed to stand Sean up. At the end of it we walked out, Whitney's arms around her waist as Sean had his arm around my shoulders. Only, when we got to the parking lot, a broad grin spread across my face.

"Who did this to my truck?" Whitney demanded as I smirked at the sight of, all the jock trucks piled one on top of the other. Let's just say, Whitney was pissed.

"Oh I am so glad I didn't bring my truck," Sean commented making me smirk slightly up at him.

"Blue Chevy right?" I asked him making him nod, "It's there." He looked up and his smirk dropped at the sight of his truck in the middle. "I'm gonna go get a ride with Pete and Chloe, I'll see you lot later."

"I'll come with," Lana giggled making me grin before leading her off towards Pete and Chloe who were laughing their asses off.


	2. 02 Metamorphosis

**Fan-fiction**

**Smallville (1x02-Metamorphosis)**

"Clark! Fifteen minutes!" I yelled as I walked past his door headed down stair, "Ass out of bed!"

"Language Isabelle!" Mom shouted up the stairs making me roll my eyes.

"Sorry!" I called back as I headed down to her a smile of innocence on my face.

"Don't give me that look, young lady," she snapped, "Where did you learn that language?"

"Dad," I replied simply, shrugging slightly as I did making her scowl over my shoulder where dad stood. I grinned at him, "Hi daddy." He frowned at me.

"Traitor," he grumbled making me giggle before grabbing a box from the kitchen table to take to the truck.

"All hail the homecoming king and queen," Chloe grinned as she helped us with the stall, I looked up to see Lana and Whitney walking over to us.

"Clark, I didn't see you at the dance last night," Lana greeted making him tense slightly.

"I was a little tied up," he shrugged it off making me glance up at him; he avoided my gaze so I shot a glare in Whitney's direction, guessing what had happened.

"Hey congratulations!" Dad said to said guy, "That was one heck of a game. I haven't seen an offence that good since I played."

"Thank you Mr Kent," Whitney smiled widely.

"I'm gonna go get the rest of the boxes out of the truck," I commented, "C'mon Clark." I pulled him along.

"I'll help!" I heard Whitney comment making me glare darkly at him, he backed up slightly.

"Kent, you realise last night was just a joke, right?" Whitney commented making me growl viciously until Clark placed a hand on my shoulder to calm me down. "Hey, I uh, I need that necklace back."

"I don't have it," Clark told him simply.

"Look, its Lana's favourite, so..." Whitney started.

"We'll you'd better go out to that cornfield and find it," I snapped at him before walking away with two of the boxes. "Here you go, Daddy." He smiled down at me as I placed the boxes on the stall.

"Hey, Clark! What's the hold up?" I called behind me as I turned around, he wasn't talking to Whitney anymore he was talking to Lex instead making me arch an eyebrow and walk over.

"Isabelle, it's good to see you," the millionaire greeted as I gave him a strained smile.

"Lex," I nodded before glancing at Clark, "Dad wants us to finish up."

"Yeah sure," he nodded making me nod back and strain another smile at Lex before I headed towards dad again.

"At least I got a smile this time," I heard Lex comment making me roll my eyes.

"I left some of the baked goods at home," Mom commented as I reached them, "You mind?"

"No, I'll be back in a bit," I smiled before heading off at a slow jog, Lex however was apparently leaving and he pulled up just in front of me making me slow to a walk. "Can I help you?"

"I was wondering just the opposite actually," he commented, "You want a lift?" Frowning slightly I gave him a once over, contemplating. "No catch."

"Okay," I nodded making him grin and lean across to push the door open; I frowned and slid in to the car with him. "I need to pick some more things up from the farm." He nodded before driving off again.

"I get the feeling you don't like me very much," he commented as we drove to the farm, glancing sideways at me.

"It's not that I don't like you, Lex," I commented quietly, "It just... takes a lot for me to trust someone, especially when it comes to my brother." He frowned and nodded making me smile slightly.

"I guess I just have to work on earning your trust then," he smiled making me grin and nod, "Starting with helping you carry this box and take it back to the market."

"You sure?" I asked him as we pulled up, he nodded. "Well, come on then." I got out of the car and walked up to the house with him following behind me.

The market was in chaos when I got back, and from what I could tell, it looked like Clark had managed to save Whitney's life. "Why do these things always seem to happen when I'm not here?" Mom and Dad glanced at me incredulously making me smirk as Clark bit back a laugh.

"Whitney's gonna be all right," Dad commented as he ignored my comment, "He's got a couple of cuts and bruises but nothing serious."

"Does he remember anything?" Clark asked as I sat down on the back of the truck.

"No, just that something smashed his truck and he woke up in the ambulance," dad replied making me arch an eyebrow turning to Clark.

"You need to talk to mom," Clark commented, "I think I really freaked her out this time." I frowned, wondering what had happened this time.

"You also made her really proud, Clark," Dad told him as I watched the two.

"Dad, something else happened to me this morning," he sighed, "When I woke up... I was kind of floating."

"Floating?" I asked in shock making him nod slightly.

"As soon as I woke up I crashed." He replied, "What's happening to me?"

"I honestly don't know," Dad replied, "As soon as you start breaking the rules of gravity, we're definitely in uncharted territory."

"I just, wish it would stop," Clark muttered making me sigh.

"Look, Clark," Dad interrupted, "I'm your father and I'm supposed to have all the answers. It kills me that I don't, but you gotta have faith that we'll figure this thing out together."

"I do," Clark nodded, "But this is happening to me and I'm scared."

"Us Clark," I turned to him, "It's happening to us." He turned his head to me and sighed with a nod. "I may not be getting anything new lately, but I'm not exactly normal myself." He nodded again.

A few hours later dad decided that he'd trust Clark and me to drop of produce at Luthor Manor so we headed off there. The crate was taken off of us at the main entrance by one of the servants and as I went to turn to go back to the truck, Clark pulled me after him.

"Save any lives on the way over?" Lex asked as we walked in to his office, "You keep it up and you could make a career out of it."

"We were just dropping off your produce," Clark commented, "Sorry my parents gave you a hard time."

"Ah, if push came to shove I would have arm-wrestled them for it," he smirked making me grin slightly as I walked closer, there was a war tactics board game set up on a table close by.

"Are you planning an invasion?" I asked curiously.

"My father gave this to me when I was nine," he replied as he walked over to me, standing next to me.

"Cool gift," I smiled.

"It wasn't a gift," he replied, "It was a strategy tool. My father equates business with war." I frowned in curiosity. "Take the battle of Troy. It started because two men were in love with the same woman, kind of like Clark and the quarterback." I smirked and glanced up at my brother, "That's why he strung you up in a field, isn't it?" My smirk dropped into a scowl.

"If we're at war, Whitney's pretty much won her," Clark commented making me roll my eyes.

"If you're at war," I smirked, "I'm planning the next battle."

"Exactly," Lex nodded, "You've lost one battle Clark. That's all. Besides, I don't believe Lana's as infatuated as you think."

"The guy's captain of the football team," Clark started, "The whole town treats him like a god. Game over."

"If you hadn't pulled him out of that truck, your problems would be solved," Lex commented, making my head snap around to him, "I'm kidding of course. Don't worry, Clark. I've got your Trojan horse." With that he walked away towards one of his book shelves where he took an intricate box from his shelf.

I watched curiously as he opened it and my gaze fell on Lana's meteor rock necklace making Clark pale and back off slightly as it glinted. "You okay?" I asked him gently.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He nodded, "That's a cool box. What's it made of?"

"Lead," Lex replied, "My mother bought it in a Kasbah in Morocco. A little guy told her it was made from the armour of St George, The Patron Saint of Boy Scouts. She gave it to me before she died. I think she was trying to send me a message." He snapped it closed and handed it to Clark.

"I can't take that," he shook his head.

"What is it about Kents and gifts?" Lex asked with a sigh before he offered it to me, I took it off him with a small smirk. "One of you knows a good thing when she sees it. Give the necklace to Lana. Tell her what happened. Trust me, once she opens it, you'll win her heart Clark. That necklace gives you the power. All you've got to do is use it." Clark glanced at the box in my hands before taking it off of me making me suppress a smirk before glancing at Lex who had a similar look on his face.

"Izzy?" A voice called as I walked down steps after school, ready to head home. So I stopped and turned to see Whitney and Sean jogging towards me.

"What do you want Fordman?" I asked him bluntly making him give me an exasperated look.

"Lana's pissed," he told me, "She found out about..."

"You using Clark as the scarecrow?" I finished for him, "Yeah, she's pissed... but I'm worse so I'll advise you to go fuck yourself." I turned to start walking away but his hand locked on my arm and pulled me around to face him. "What?"

"I lost her necklace, okay?" he told me, "The one made from the meteor that killed her parents... I can't find it! I went to the cornfield and everything."

"What exactly do you want me to do about it?" I asked him simply.

"Can't you just, I don't know, talk to her?" he asked, "Make her see how sorry I am?"

"Why would I do that?" I smirked, "With her pissed at you, my brother's got a chance with her." He glared and his grip on my arm tightened. "Whitney, let me go." He didn't release the hold, "Seriously Fordman, I'd let go now," I growled at him dangerously.

"Talk to Lana for me," he growled back.

"With the way you're hurting my arm right now, I don't think I'm gonna let you anywhere near her any time soon," I snarled at him, pulling my arm, his grip tightened again. "If you're still holding my arm on the count of three, I'm not gonna be sorry for what happens to you."

"What are you going to do?" he smirked at me, bringing his face closer to smirk at me.

"Oh, I wouldn't be worried about what she'll do," A voice sounded from behind me making me turn to see Lex getting out of his car, "You heard her, let her go."

The grip on my arm tightened before loosening, giving me the chance to pull away from him. I hitched my bag on to my shoulder and stepped away from him, closer to Lex. "Just talk to her for me," Whitney told me.

"Still not gonna happen," I told him with a small smile before I turned and walked all the way to Lex who was glaring at the boy from where he leant on his car. "Hi Lex."

"Hey," he greeted, "You want a ride home?" I nodded with a smile before slipping into the passenger seat as he opened the car for me.

"What was that all about?" he asked me as we drove towards the farm.

"Nothing," I shrugged, "Lana found out Whitney lost her necklace, so I'm guessing you told her about the scarecrow thing." I turned my head and noticed a smirk on his face, "Yeah, I thought so." I laughed slightly. "Anyway, he wanted me to talk to her for him I said no, he got mad."

Lex cast me a curious look before letting it go as we pulled up in front of the house, "Thanks," I smiled at him, he shrugged. "Look uh... I'm sorry I was horrible to you when we first met." A small smirk twitched at his lips as he turned to face me, "I guess I was wrong, I mean... with the accident, and the fact you were a Luthor..."

"I get it," he shrugged, "It's no problem."

"If you're sure," I tried, he nodded and grinned, "Well, thanks again. For the lift, and for helping me with Whitney."

"No problem," he told me honestly.

"I'll see you around Lex," I smiled at him before getting out of the car. Once his car sped off I started for the house, only to hear dad's voice shouting Clark in horror.

"Dad?" I shouted running for the barn, I got there in time to see something shoving dad over the railing, and him heading straight for the blades of the mower. "DAD!"

Dashing forward, at my newly developed speed I shoved his falling body towards a speeding Clark who caught him before crashing into one of the posts, I... well...

"Ah, fuck," I groaned as I pulled myself off the blades of the mower.

"Izzy!" Dad yelped as I pushed myself up, I turned to see my back stitch itself up.

"I'm okay," I muttered, my gaze on the blood covered blades, "What just happened?"

"Let me see your back," Dad insisted making me roll my shoulders.

"I'm okay," I told him honestly, "And so is your mower. If Clark had done that it'd have been destroyed."

"What's going on in here?" Mom ran in, in a rush.

"I never saw anybody move like that," Dad commented as I turned towards him again, mom gasped at the sight of my back.

"Mom I'm fine," I told her simply, "I'd be more concerned about dad right now."

"Who did this?" Mom asked, "Did you get a look at their face?"

"He came right off the ceiling at me," dad replied, "It was almost as if he..."

"Wasn't entirely human?" I suggested quickly.

"I saw his face," Clark told us, "I think it was Greg Arkin."

My jaw dropped at the name as I turned to Clark, "Greg?" I asked in surprise.

"That's a name I haven't heard in a while," Mom commented, "You two and Pete used to hang out with him in grade school."

"Why would he want to hurt either of you?" Dad asked curiously.

"I don't know," Clark replied honestly.

"Are you still friends?" Mom asked.

"I uh, I pass him in the hallways," I replied, "But uh..."

"People change," Clark finished in agreement.

"I remember his mother used to keep him on a short leash," I carried on, "But from what I remember, he wouldn't hurt a fly..."

"Maybe because he was too busy collecting them and every other bug he could get his hands on," Clark commented.

"Clark, kids don't just leap off the ceiling and attack people," Dad commented, Clark grabbed a flashlight and pointed it at the ceiling, showing off gooey green footprints.

"How do you explain that?" he questioned.

"I don't know," Dad replied, "Seems kind of out there."

"Daddy, you've been hiding a spaceship in our storm cellar for the past twelve years," I pointed out.

"It's not that I don't want to believe you, Clark," Dad sighed as mom left, "It's just... I'm having trouble getting my head around this one."

"Dad, do you ever wonder why all these things happen in Smallville?" Clark questioned.

"Every town has its share of tall tales," dad shrugged it off.

"Except here they're all true," Clark countered, "Chloe showed us this wall. It's covered with all these articles she collected about all the weird stuff that's happened in Smallville since the meteor shower. It's all, my fault."

"Look, Clark, if you're talking about 50-pound tomatoes and two headed calves then I got a better explanation for you," Dad told him, "LuthorCorp. I mean, God only knows what that fertilizer plant's been pumping out over the last twelve years."

"LuthorCorp didn't kill Lana's parents," Clark argued making me flinch inwardly.

"Neither did you," Dad told him, "You can't blame yourself for something you had no control over."

"Dad I know," he nodded, "But I still feel responsible.

"What happened to Lana's parents was a terrible tragedy," Dad told him as I turned to leave, "But no matter how many extraordinary gifts either of you have," I paused, "you will never be able to change that."

"Then how do I make this feeling go away?" Clark asked.

"You can't," dad replied, "But that's what makes you human." With one last sigh, I turned and headed inside, going to my bedroom to avoid everyone as I thought it over.

Clark blamed himself, and I knew that wishes didn't really come true, it was one hell of a coincidence. But something told me that everything he was blaming himself for, was partly my fault.

"Hey Izzy," I looked up to see Clark stood at my doorframe, "We need to talk about Greg."

"Pete come on," I dragged him behind me after school so he'd follow me to the Torch, but he'd dug his heels into the floor making me stop and let go of his hand, he dropped on to his butt. "Why're you being so awkward?"

"I'm hungry, I was going home," he complained at me.

"This is important," I told him with a pointed look, he shook his head, "Don't make me throw you over my shoulder Peter!"

"Like you could," he scoffed.

"I'll tell the whole school that you've never kissed anyone," I smirked dangerously, his eyes widened.

"Hey, that's a lie and you know it," he frowned at me.

"Who're they going to believe?" I smirked at him, "The guy who claims to have made out with me? Or the popular girl who says you're lying?" With that he got to his feet and glared at me as he stormed past me.

"I found an article about Amazonian tribesmen who took on the traits of the insects they'd been bitten by," Chloe was saying as we walked in, me with a smug grin in place as Pete glared at me, "but nothing as extreme as what you're talking about. Hi guys!"

"Hey Chloe," I smiled at her as Pete muttered something, "What do we got?"

"Greg didn't move to Smallville until after the meteor shower," Clark replied, "So he couldn't have been exposed to the blast." I frowned slightly.

"What about his bugs?" I asked as I hopped on to one of the clearer desks, Pete leant on it next to me as I smirked at him, "Pieces of the meteor are still buried all over Smallville, right? The whole habitat would have been infected. So when boy catches bugs, bugs bite boy you end up with... bug boy? Like Spiderman but you know, not spiders."

"You can't even walk out your door in the summer without being bitten by a mosquito," Pete countered, "Why don't we have a whole town of bug people?"

"Because you need a certain level of toxins to cause a mutation," Chloe agreed with me, "Those Amazonian tribesmen were attacked by swarms."

"Greg did keep tanks of bugs in his room," Clark nodded, "Maybe they got sick of the view and staged a revolt."

"Well, according to this, bugs have a very short life cycle," Chloe commented, "So if he really has gone Kafka, let's hope he isn't in the mating phase." I pulled a face as Pete sniggered at me making me elbow him in the side as he frowned at me.

"It doesn't look like anyone's home," Chloe commented as the three of them looked through a window at Greg's house later on.

"The place is a mess," Pete commented making me frown curiously.

"Greg's mom was a neat freak," I added in confusion. "She used to make us take our shoes off before going in. She freaked that time I forgot."

"Is that what broke up the friendship?" Chloe asked curiously.

"After 7th grade, Greg's parents got divorced," Clark replied, "he just stopped calling after that."

"Speak for yourself," I muttered making him look at me, I gave him a strained smile, "I hung out with him for a while afterwards, in that tree house his dad built us in the woods. Greg started getting weirder and he didn't like me spending so much time with the Jocks so I stopped hanging out with him."

"That tree house was awesome," Pete smirked.

"It was okay," Clark shrugged.

"Clark never liked it," I smirked slightly, "Used to get dizzy just walking over there."

"How come?" Chloe asked as they moved towards me, away from the window.

"He was afraid of heights," Pete informed her.

"I didn't believe it was structurally safe," he replied as I smirked at him.

"So, are we going in or not?" I asked making them look at me, "What?"

"The doors are locked," Chloe pointed out, I smirked and shrugged at her before I going over to the front where there was a shelter under the bathroom window, which was open.

"Gimme a boost," I called making them all swap looks, I turned, "Well?"

Clark moved towards me and crouched, giving me his knee and shoulder, I hopped on to his knee before stepping up to his shoulder, grabbing the shelter to pull myself up. "I'll be down in a sec," I told them before I slipped into the window, I sent a look at the bath and had to stop myself from puking before I headed down stairs to let them in. "You're not going to believe this."

They followed me up to the bathroom where Chloe took pictures of the skin in the shower, "Oh man, that's disgusting," Pete commented, "What is it?"

"It's skin," I replied, "He must be molting or something."

"You guys better come in here!" Clark called from Greg's bedroom making us all head towards him. The room was full of webs, but on his bed there were hundreds of pictures of Lana, as well as a video playing of her on the TV.

"Oh man, looks like you're not the only one in Smallville with the hots for Lana," Pete commented.

"I think Greg's found his mate," Chloe commented as I clenched my jaw angrily, "Clark, what do you see?"

"I'm not sure," he muttered as he moved across the room, I turned my head as he pulled a load of webs apart, letting Greg's mom fall to the floor... her face shrivelled.

"Lana," I gasped as I bolted from the room, I could hear them behind me so I ran at an almost human pace, just a bit faster than Chloe and Pete could.

"Lana?" I screamed as I ran into her stable, "Lana?"

"Greg's got her," Whitney's voice told me making me turn to see him on the floor, rubbing his head.

"What happened?" I asked him as Clark ran in.

"I'm not sure," he replied, "Greg threw me against the wall like it was nothing, then grabbed Lana. I've never seen somebody that strong before."

"Which way did he go?" Clark questioned.

"He headed off into the woods," he replied as I glanced behind me towards the woods, he was headed the tree house.

"I think I know where he's going," I muttered.

"Great, I'll drive," he told me.

"The old Creekside Foundry?" I told him making him nod, "Follow the dirt track about a hundred yards back. There's a tree house in the woods."

"How do you know he's there?" he asked me.

"Greg used to collect bugs there," I replied as we headed to the car.

"Look, Izzy, Clark... I want to a..." But we'd already started running, me a little way behind Clark since he was faster.

I got there just as Clark and Greg crashed through the side of the tree house, Clark landing on the floor as Greg leapt to run away over a chain link fence. I took off after him as Clark shrugged himself off, the place always made Clark sick so I had to get there first this time.

"Greg!" I called as I ran in, my gaze scanning around me... a mass collided with me sending me flying backwards a few feet before I hit the floor hard, Greg smirked down at me as he straddled me.

"Same old Izzy," he commented, "Running into trouble without the slightest thought." I struggled against him as he pinned my arms by my head, "You're not going to be able to slip out of this one." His lips crashed down on mine and everything around me went black.

I woke up on the sofa in the hay loft with a groan, pushing myself into a seating position as I looked around my room in confusion. "Izzy?" Clark's voice questioned making me turn to him. "You okay?"

"Yeah," I nodded fuzzily, "What happened?"

He explained about fighting with Greg, and how the bug boy had been crushed under a load of construction equipment. Lana had been saved by Whitney, and Clark had given her the necklace back anonymously. "Just another day in Smallville then, huh?" I smirked at him.

"Yeah, I guess so," he laughed slightly, "You ready to head inside? I didn't take you in cause mom would have worried about you."

"Yeah," I nodded, felling a lot better thanks to my healing power thing.

**I struggled to write this one :/**

**Sorry it took so long, I didn't really think it was good enough to carry on, but let me know please :D**


	3. 03 Hothead

**Episode 03 – Hothead**

"Football: Sport or Abuse?" Clark read from the Torch as I walked next to him, looking at it over his shoulder.

"What do you think?" Chloe asked with a smirk as we headed up to the bleachers by the football field. Chloe had a cup of coffee in her hand as I drank a bottle of Mountain Dew.

"I think you need to seriously decrease your Cappuccino dependency," Clark replied, making Pete laugh.

"Pete thinks I'm being too hard on Coach Walt," Chloe commented as said guy draped his arm around my shoulder to steal my drink; I handed it over and leant into his side.

"The man coached my dad, all my brothers," Pete explained, "He used to come over and watch the Super Bowl."

"Now, while I'm touched by that Hallmark moment," Chloe sighed, eyeing the arm around my shoulder, "you don't get points for subtlety in journalism. I've already started getting hate mail." I smirked and shook my head at her, eyeing the cheerleaders who were glaring in our direction as we headed through the courtyard.

"You seem very happy about that," I commented, "Why?"

"Because it means I'm hitting a nerve," she replied, "Besides, between the abysmal sentence structure and generous use of obscenities, I've got a pretty good idea of who's been sending it."

"If you think my team-mates are reading the Torch, you're giving them way too much credit," Pete smirked as he handed me my drink back. "Thanks."

"No problem," I smirked up at him before looking away, _why was I flirting with Pete?_

"Don't you even care about this?" Lana's voice suddenly rang across the courtyard, making me turn my head.

"I don't see what the big deal is," Whitney replied.

"You don't think this is a big deal? I think it's a big deal!" She snapped before storming past us, I followed her with my gaze worriedly before I turned to glare at Whitney.

"Whoo! There's something you don't see every day a pompom meltdown," Chloe laughed making me frown at her but she was too busy looking at a gang of jocks leaving the building. "Ooh, here they come! I need a picture of the cheating jockstraps." Pete took his arm from around me to hand Chloe the camera before he put his arm back.

"Any idea how they got that midterm, Chloe?" Clark asked curiously.

"It's still a mystery, but I'm working on it," she replied as I watched them. As I watched one of them tossed a football towards Chloe making me pull her out of the way smoothly as Clark caught the ball just before it hit me, showing off super reflexes, I gave him a stern look.

"Ooh, nice catch!" Pete patted his shoulder before pulling me back into his arms as I glowered at the offending jock.

"One of your team-mates just attempted to assassinate me, and all you say is nice catch?" Chloe demanded before walking away.

"I thought she wanted to hit a nerve?" Pete asked as he pulled away to follow her, Clark shoved the ball in my arms as he followed making me sigh before I reeled back to toss the ball back at the jock. I didn't mean to throw it hard, but as he caught it he doubled over with a gasp making me toss him a glare before I headed after the others.

Walking out of morning Lit Pete's arm was once again around my shoulders as we walked with Clark, who kept tossing us a curious look before shrugging it off. "Ooh vending machine," I muttered as I picked up the pace, grabbing Pete's falling arm and linking my hand with his.

I was buying M&Ms when Coach Walk walked up to us, "Hey, Kents!" he greeted us making me turn and give him a look before collecting my candy. "I saw those arms out there. Technique was lousy, but you've both got power."

"Thanks," Clark beamed as I frowned at the man, Pete draped his arm around me again.

"Why aren't you on the team?" he asked Clark, avoiding the subject with me now, girls weren't allowed on the football team anyway.

"My dad needs me on the farm," Clark replied.

"Well, your school needs you on the field," Coach replied, "We got a big game on Friday night, we're short players. Look, look, I – I know your dad would understand."

"He's stubborn," I filled in.

"Yeah, I remember," Coach nodded, "Jonathan Kent was one of the best athletes I ever coached. A lot of God-given talent. It's in your genes, Kent."

"Actually, I'm adopted," Clark cut in making me smirk slightly.

"Look," Coach was frustrated, "I am giving you a chance to be a part of something special, a part of history. Now, I've seen you stare at your father's picture in that trophy case. Don't tell me you don't want to be a part of this. Why don't you suit up? Look at Ross here, he doesn't have a lick of natural talent but he's got a truck load of heart... and football obviously got him the girl."

I frowned at him, but blushed slightly at the last part, "Thanks, I guess," Pete muttered, unsure.

"Let me think about it," Clark commented.

"Fordman, get over here!" Coach called, making me turn my head to see Whitney and Lana walking over.

"Hey guys," Lana greeted giving me small hug, yet glancing questioningly at Pete's arm, I shrugged and gave her a sheepish smile.

"Fordman you're the team captain," Coach told Whitney, "How do you think Kent here would do on the field? I mean, considering our current predicament?"

"He might do alright," Whitney nodded as he looked Clark up and down.

"Hmm... he seems afraid though," Coach baited.

"That's not the reason," I snapped defensively.

"What is it Clark?" Lana questioned.

"My dad," he replied simply.

"Kent, there comes a time when you gotta step out of your father's shadow," Coach told him, "be your own man. Now what do you say? You ready to be your own man?"

I frowned up at my brother as he glanced around us before nodding, "Count me in," he nodded, I frowned more before shaking my head. Pulling out of Pete's hold I walked away from them all.

Once around the corner and in a different corridor I leant against the wall and sighed, "He's an idiot," I muttered to myself.

"Call me when the hurting's done!" I heard Pete's voice call as he followed me down the corridor making me frown before I pushed myself away from the wall and to my locker instead to get my sketch book for art. "Hey, you okay?"

"I'm fine, Pete," I replied as I snapped my locked shut, spinning the lock.

"You don't look it," he pointed out making me roll my eyes at him before we headed into class. "I mean... you're not mad at me are you? It's just Clark."

"I'm not mad at either of you," I shrugged as I took my seat, glancing at him as he stood next to me, "Jus disappointed in Clark for being an idiot."

"He just wants to be popular," Pete shrugged making me glance at him, "It's important to some of us Izzy."

"Yeah, I guess," I shrugged as the teacher came in, we fell silent at that and listened to the assignment.

"Hey Izzy," Pete said as we left for lunch, he draped his arm around me too making me glance at him, "I think we should do something."

"What do you mean?" I asked him curiously.

"Well neither of us have homework," he started, "I was uh, just, you know..."

"Are you asking me out, Pete?" I asked him with a teasing smirk, he rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand.

"Uh, I guess I am," he smiled sheepishly making me blush slightly.

"I thought you were in to Chloe," I asked curiously.

"Well..." he hesitated, "Chloe's in to Clark and uh..."

"How about we hang out tonight," I suggested as I pulled from his arms to walk backwards in front of him, a smirk on my face, "And if it turns into a date, then it turns into a date." He grinned at me and nodded making me smile widely.

"Sounds good," he nodded.

"Good," I grinned, "I'm having lunch with Lana, but I'll see you when your practice finishes. We'll go do something after."

"See you then," he smirked at me making me smile widely before I turned on my heel and headed off, a broad grin on my face that I couldn't fight off.

"What's got you so happy?" Lana asked as I met her by the bleachers at the football field.

"I have a sort of date tonight," I replied as we headed off the school grounds to get lunch.

"A sort of date, with who exactly?" she asked curiously, I glanced at her and bit my lip. "Pete?" I nodded. "Aww Izzy that's really cute."

"Oh shut it," I shoved her slightly, "He asked, but then we decided it's just hanging out and if it turns into a date then that's what it does."

"Meaning you're just hanging out, but at some point, if you make out then so be it?" she smirked at me, I shrugged and nodded. "Why does hearing about, you and Pete making out sound familiar?"

"I told you not to bring that up," I frowned at her as I glanced over my shoulder to where Clark, Pete and Chloe were coming out of the building, Pete was grinning slightly. "I am dead when Clark finds out."

"Pete was your friend first," she shrugged at me as she linked her arm with mine, "You'll tell me everything, right?"

"Of course," I chuckled at her...

I sat on the bleachers, watching as the team came out for practice, Pete looked pretty funny in his uniform as he was really skinny, but Clark seemed to suit the jock look, surprisingly. "Izzy," dad dropped onto the bleacher next to me making me turn to him.

"Daddy, what are you...?" I started.

"I could ask you the same thing," he arched an eyebrow at me, I smiled sheepishly as Clark came and joined us.

"I'm glad you're both here," he said as soon as he reached us, "It means a lot to me."

"I'm here for Pete," I shrugged, "We're hanging out after." Clark gave me a confused look.

"I still don't support your decision, Clark," Dad told him, "I'm here to see that no one gets hurt." I frowned at dad for that as Clark headed back on to the field, disappointed.

"Did you have to say that?" I asked dad sternly, he gave me a look and opened his mouth to say something, "He's your son, and super or not he still needs your support and your trust."

I turned to the field as the practice run started, Clark at tailback... I gasped as he got took out, but it turned into a slight grown as Coach started shouting at him. Something changed in Clark, and I watched the next run, he knocked over half of the linebackers before hurdling others finishing with an unchallenged run to the endzone.

"Clark," I sighed as dad got up and walked away, I followed him with my gaze before looking back at the field where Clark was watching disappointedly.

A few hours later I joined Clark and Pete as they left the locker rooms, letting the latter drape his arm around my shoulders. "Where's your dad go?" Pete asked curiously.

"He had to go back to the farm," I replied simply as I ducked my head, only to snap it back up at the sound of screaming. Principle Kwan's car was on fire.

"Go get help!" Clark shouted, Pete took off as I dropped my things and followed Clark to the car. Clark smashed through the window before pulling the driver's side door off its hinges as I grabbed Kwan and pulled him out of the car, half dragging him away from the car, Clark took him off of me as the car exploded, sending me flying forwards on to my front as let out a groan.

"So what exactly happened when I went for help?" Pete questioned as we sat in the coffee shop later on, his arm around me as I curled into his side on the sofa.

"We got the door open and dragged him out," I replied, "We got away before it exploded." Glancing up at him I watched a small smile flicker across his lips before he brushed some of my hair from my face.

"I'm glad you're okay," he told me quietly as I blushed, "You don't usually blush, Iz."

"You don't usually act like this," I replied in the same tone making him smirk slightly before he leant towards me. His lips pressed softly against mine, making my eyes flicker closed as I kissed him back. It was slow and sweet, exactly how I remembered his kisses.

"I can't believe you've been blinded by the Friday night lights," Chloe's voice suddenly laughed making me freeze, Pete did too.

"I joined the football team, not a cult," Clark chuckled, "What the...?"

I pulled away from Pete as his head snapped around to face Clark who was half shocked half glaring at us. "Hi," I squeaked slightly.

"And now Izzy and Pete are together," Chloe threw her arms in the air, "Next thing we know I'll be joining the pompom brigade!"

"I hear there's a spot open," I smiled sheepishly as I nodded behind them, Lana was behind the counter wearing a green Beanery apron.

"Lana, what are you doing here?" Clark asked curiously, as Lana walked over to us with a small note pad.

"Taking your order, I hope," she replied as she glanced at me and Pete, a small smirk on her face told me she'd seen us.

"W-what is this?" Chloe asked, "Some sort of cheerleading charity, like 'be a waitress for a night' sort of thing?"

"Yes, it is, except for the cheerleading and charity parts," she replied, "Tips are always appreciated."

"So you're a waitress for real?" Clark questioned making me sigh slightly since he was no longer looking at me and Pete.

"Even got the perky name tag to prove it," she replied happily.

"First day?" Pete asked her curiously as he played with a strand of my hair.

"Ever," she replied with a nod making me smirk.

"Where's your necklace?" Clark asked curiously.

"Strict dress code, no jewellery and no open toed shoes," she replied.

"You look very... waitress like," Chloe smirked.

"Now, if I could only tell the difference between a half-caf and a non-fat latte," she sighed.

"I'll just have regular black then," Chloe grinned.

"Make that four Lana," I told her with a smile making her nod and walk away as Chloe joined us, but Clark took the tray Lana had left on our table and headed over to her as I leant into Pete's side.

"Clark is a footballer and Lana Lang is a waitress," Chloe commented as we watched them talk.

"What's wrong with that?" I questioned.

"Nothing," she shrugged, "I just want to click my heels and get back to reality." She glanced between us, her gaze staying on his hand playing with my hair for a moment longer, "So what's going on?"

"What do you mean?" Pete asked her as my gaze travelled to a jock, Trevor, walking into the coffee shop. Pete nodded to him in greeting making him do the same before he headed over to a table of jocks, muttering to them.

"Well, one day you're acting normal, and the next you guys are apparently in love," she pointed out before she followed our gaze, "What's going on with your fallen brethren?"

"I don't know," Pete replied simply, Chloe hopped up.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow," she told us before rushing out making me frown at her as Clark came over, she said something to him on her way past.

"What are we going to do, Clark doesn't seem too happy about this," Pete muttered as I turned my head to him again.

"Well, Clark's just going to have to get over it," I shrugged at him with a smirk making him grin slightly before he leant in. The sweet, soft kiss seemed to have something else in it this time as I wrapped my arm around his neck to pull him closer, but we wrenched apart at the sound of clattering.

Lana was on the floor with cups and a tray around her as customers applauded making me giggle slightly, and since Clark was helping her up, I turned back to Pete and locked my lips on his again.

"So what's going on between you and Pete?" Clark asked the next night as he practically posed in front of the mirror, looking at his football uniform.

"Look, Clark, I know you think that..." I started.

"I just don't want things to get awkward if you break up," he replied, "He's my best friend, and you're my sister..."

"We're not serious enough to break up Clark," I told him, "We're just..." He shook his head making me smirk.

"Don't say fooling around," he told me making me grin widely at him, "Izzy!"

"What?" I shrugged at him, "He's obviously into Chloe."

"So what, you're with him because you don't have a boyfriend and Pete's there?" he asked me, I shrugged making him sigh and shake his head.

"Headed out to the pep rally?" Mom asked as she walked up the stairs to us.

"How do I look?" Clark asked her curiously.

"As handsome as your father," mom replied with a smile.

"You don't have to do this, mom?" Clark started.

"Do what?" Mom asked curiously as I looked between them.

"Play Kent family peace keeper," Clark replied.

"If the Kent men weren't so stubborn, I wouldn't have to," Mom started before looking at me, "And since Izzy's chosen sides..."

"I have not," I started.

"You're taking dad's side?" Clark asked her.

"No, Clark, I'm not I told him he's being unreasonable," mom replied.

"Thanks," Clark smiled making me shake my head.

"Well, I'm not saying you're completely innocent here, either," she told him, "If you want to make your own decision, you need to be prepared to live with your mistakes."

"You trust me, don't you?" he asked her hopefully.

"I want to, Clark," she replied, "So does your dad. Just... give him a chance." Clark nodded with a weak smile.

"Come on, Crows, let's go!" the cheerleaders were chanting at the rally as I walked around. I'd lost Clark, and I hadn't seen Pete or Chloe anywhere.

Arms slipped around my waist as I faced the bonfire, making me jump slightly before lips pressed to my neck making me chuckle. "You scared the crap out of me Pete," I told him as I turned in his arms to see him grinning at me, I wrapped my arms around his neck and chewed on my lip.

"You talked to Clark?" he asked me curiously.

"He's okay," I told him, "He's just worried that things will get awkward if we break up or something."

"Well we just won't let it," he told me making me nod in agreement before I pulled his head down so I could kiss him.

"Hey guys, have you seen Chloe?" Clark's voice called over to us making me groan as we pulled away, turning to him.

"Nope," I shook my head, Pete shook his head too. Clark frowned before walking off again making me roll my eyes at him, "He did that on purp..." I was cut off by Pete's lips pressing against mine again making me let out a sigh before I moved on to my tiptoes to press my lips harder on to his, my eyes flickering closed.

"I'm half way to suggesting we bail," Pete muttered against my lip as we broke apart to breath.

"You're a pervert," I giggled slightly as one of his hands slipped up the back of my shirt, "But I think you should go talk to your jockstrap friends."

"I'd much rather stay here," he smirked down at me before leaning in again, he didn't get a chance to kiss me this time though since Whitney and another jock came up behind him and dragged him away from me making me laugh loudly as he gave me a look.

A few hours later I gave up on the pep rally and headed to the Beanery to see Lana since she was working. I was surprised to see her chatting with Lex when I walked in, she walked away to get his order as I walked over.

"Coffee?" she asked as I passed her.

"Yes please," I smiled at her as I kissed her cheek, "Don't drop it though."

"Very funny," she rolled her eyes at me I grinned cheekily before heading over to Lex.

"Hey," I greeted as I dropped into the seat opposite him, "What're you doing here?"

"My dad's at the mansion," he replied, "I'm avoiding going home." I smirked slightly at that as I sat back to look at him, "You're a little dressed up for coffee aren't you?"

"I was on a date at the pep rally," I shrugged, "he got distracted by his team mates so I bailed." He arched a questioning eyebrow at me, "He's a reserve so it doesn't count."

"Ah," he smirked at me making me roll my eyes at him.

"Well, if it isn't Smallville's latest football star," Lana greeted making me turn around to see Clark.

"Let's see how I do tomorrow night," he chuckled, "Hey, have you seen Trevor tonight?"

"No, he hasn't been in," Lana replied.

"How are things going here?" Clark asked curiously.

"Today is one of those days I just want to scream," Lana replied as I smirked and shook my head.

"Well, for what it's worth, I think it's cool you got this job," Clark told her.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry I'm not gonna get to see you play tomorrow," Lana smiled weakly, "New girl gets the worst shifts. So, can I get you anything?"

"Uh, maybe a cup of coffee," he replied, my gaze turned to Lex as he smirked.

"Coming right up," Lana told him.

"Thanks," Clark smiled before I heard him heading over to us.

"Rumour has it Clark Kent joined the football team," Lex greeted as Clark sat down.

"Rumour's true," he replied.

"Congratulations," Lex told him as I smiled slightly, "Your dad must be thrilled."

"Actually, he freaked out," Clark replied, "Told me I couldn't play. I'm surprised with my dad. I mean, he claims I should make my own decisions, but then when I do he shoots me down."

I rolled my eyes slightly, "Ah, and you're out late, waiting for him to go to bed so you could avoid the uncomfortable silence that greets you when you go home," Lex filled in, a smirk twitched at my lips.

"How'd you know?" Clark asked him.

"Luthors wrote the book on uncomfortable silences," Lex told us making me arch an amused eyebrow at him.

"What are you working on, anyway?" I asked him as I glanced at the file on the table between us.

"Trying to figure out which poor bastard should get the axe," he replied, "My father wants me to cut twenty percent of my workforce."

"Any way around it?" I asked him curiously.

"Once my father's made his mind up, he's not easy to turn around," Lex replied making me frown slightly as Lana appeared and put drinks on the table.

"If it makes you guys feel any better, you should have seen the look on my aunt's face when I took this job," she told us, "not that I was eavesdropping or anything." I grinned at her as she sat on the arm of my chair, her arm around my shoulders.

"I guess we're all in the same boat," Clark commented.

"Speak for yourselves," I smirked, "I'm a good girl."

"Yeah?" Clark challenged, "Wait until dad hears about you and Pete." I paled slightly at that and frowned.

"Damn," I muttered slightly.

Lex chuckled slightly and shook his head, "At least you three stood your ground and are doing what you want," he commented, "I caved." He lifted his coffee, "You have inspired me."

"Oh yeah, joining the football team and pouring some coffee," I smirked, "They're a couple of real rebels."

"Dating behind your dad's back?" Lex smirked at me making me pull tongues at him.

"Long live the revolution," Lana giggled slightly.

"Cheers," Lex nodded as he took a sip of his drink, I smirked at the whipped cream on his nose and lip.

"How is it?" Lana asked hopefully.

"It's perfect," he told her.

"Okay," She smiled before walking away.

"Is that what you ordered?" I asked him with a quiet giggle.

"Not even close," he replied dryly making me grin widely before I shook my head.

"I'm gonna go home," I sighed as I got up, "You coming?"

"I'll see you later," he shook his head making me roll my eyes at him before I leant down to hug him.

"You're a wimp," I told him before I moved around the table, hugging Lex to his surprise, "And so are you. I'll see you guys around."

"Bye," they called as I left.

I was at the front of the stands, close to where Pete sat on the bench as I watched the game in front of me. Chloe had opted to sit further back, and when I heard her greet mom and dad, I ducked my head to not be seen. "Blue 32! Hut!" Whitney bellowed the play as the game started, Clark was still nowhere to be seen.

"Pete," I called down to him, making him turn as I jogged down to him.

"Hey, babe, what's up?" he asked me curiously as he saw the worried look on my face.

"Where's Clark?" I asked him simply, he shrugged.

"Haven't seen him all day," he replied making me chew on my lip slightly.

"Ross, you know no girlfriends on the sidelines," Coach Walt commented as he walked over.

"I'm looking for my brother," I told him.

"Join the club," he countered, "I need him out there. I guess he doesn't have what it takes to be a winner, huh?" With that he walked away but my eyes narrowed dangerously before I pressed a kiss to Pete's cheek and headed away.

"Izzy?" Chloe asked as her and dad approached me.

"No one's seen Clark," I replied, "But I think Coach's lying." I chewed on my lip, "Stay here, I'm gonna go look in the school."

"Izzy..." dad started.

"I'll be fine," I told him before I took off at a jog, I headed into the locker room, glancing around me before I headed to Coach Walt's area. "Clark?" I called worriedly as I walked around, "Clark, you in here?"

My gaze landed on the sauna, with a broken window in the door, "Clark?" I yelped as I ran forward, the door was locked as I looked through the window. "Clark wake up!"

I was half groaning to myself as I pulled at the door before I growled slightly and shoved my side into it hard... only I didn't touch the door, I went straight through it. "Clark," I knelt next to him, not bothering to think it over right then, "Clark, look at me!"

"It's the meteor rocks," he gasped at me finally making me sigh before I pulled his arm around my neck to support him.

"C'mon bro," I told him calmly.

"Door is locked," he groaned at me.

"Not a problem apparently," I told him before I put my hand on it, my arm sunk through the door before I stepped through, bringing Clark with me.

Pain exploded behind my eyes as something hit me hard on the back of the head making me fall with a yell of pain, dropping Clark as I did. "Izzy?" he asked me as he threw Coach through the window of his office, I nodded and got up slowly shaking it off as my head healed itself.

We followed him into the office, "Coach, you need help," I started.

"What I need, is to win this game!" he replied as he backed away from us.

"It's too late for that," Clark told him simply. I grabbed his arm as Coach closed his eyes and concentrated, the whole room bursting into flames around us making me flinch. It felt hot, but it didn't burn making me sigh slightly before I followed Clark through some of the flames, patting my jacket to put it out once on the other side.

"How did you do that?" Coach gasped at us.

"It's in the genes," Clark replied. I took a step back as he swung for us, Clark dodged before sending him through the walls and into the shower area. "Give it up Coach, you've lost!"

"Nooooo!" he bellowed in frustration making the showers turn on, raining fire down on him as I pulled a face and watched. Coach was engulfed in a huge ball of fire and I turned away from it.

"So uh," Clark started as we sat up in the loft later on, "Passing through solid objects?"

"Apparently," I nodded, "I call it Phasing."

"Phasing," he chuckled with a nod, "From what we've seen, other people effected by meteor rocks only have one power, you have like three..."

"Up to now," I smirked, "They're probably all connected somehow.

"Or you could be an alien?" he offered. I shook my head and gave him a weak grin.

"Sorry ET you're the only one that needs to phone home around here," I told him with a smirk making him shove me slightly.

**AN: Hope you liked this one :D**

**I know I said it was an Ollie/OC story, it will be eventually but Izzy can't be single all the time she's waiting for him to turn up!**

**Let me know what you think! :D**


	4. 04 XRay

**Episode 4 – X-ray**

"Lex Luthor Robs Bank," I read as I walked into the kitchen, the newspaper in my hand since I'd just gone and got it from the porch. Mom, dad and Clark looked up from the table. "Looks like you were telling the truth, Clark."

"This is incredible," Mom took the paper from me, "Why would Lex Luthor rob a bank?"

"I've seen some strange things in my day, but this definitely takes the cake," dad commented, before looking between me and Clark, "Well, almost."

"He got away with 100,000 dollars," Mom informed us from her reading.

"We know Lex," Clark commented, "It wasn't him."

"Clark, I know that he's a friend of you and your sister, but come on," Dad protested, "You saw him with your own eyes."

"I don't know what I saw," Clark replied.

"There must be a reasonable explanation," I put in as I dropped into one of the seats, "Well, I hope there's a reasonable explanation anyways."

"Me too," Lex's voice piped up making me turn to the screen door, "I hate to think I have an evil twin."

"Hey Lex," I smiled at him widely.

"We didn't hear you pull up," Mom commented.

"May I come in?" he asked, I nodded and he pushed the door open, "I promise I'm not packing heat." I giggled slightly at that.

"How come you're not in jail?" Clark questioned.

"Because I was hosting a reception for 200 fertilizer distributers in Metropolis at the time of the robbery," he replied honestly as I pushed a chair out for him.

"Do the police have any leads?" Dad questioned.

"None," Lex sighed, "That's why I wanted to talk to Clark. Your name was on the witness list. Did you actually see this person?"

"Yeah, he looked just like you," Clark replied.

"Except his signature and fingerprints didn't match mine," Lex pointed out, "You sure your eyes weren't playing tricks on you?"

"What's gonna happen now?" I asked curiously.

"Hopefully the money will turn up," Lex replied, "In the meantime, the Metropolis tabloids will have a field day, and I'm sure certain people's opinions of me will be cemented in stone."

"I gotta get to work," Dad got up making me sigh and roll my eyes.

"I'm sorry you got thrown through that window," Lex told Clark, "I promise I'm not a criminal mastermind."

"A criminal mastermind would have worn a mask," I pointed out with a smirk making him glance at me before he smiled back.

I grinned widely as I glanced over to the other side of the gym at the end of the lesson the next day. The boys' gym class were rope climbing as I walked backwards out of the room, grinning at Lana as she told me what her and Whitney had done on a date.

"Hey Izzy!" Pete called, ignoring the glare the new Coach sent to him, "Me and you later?"

"Sure," I grinned at him widely as he smirked at me making me blush slightly before I turned and followed the other girls out to get changed, ignoring the teasing look Lana sent my way.

"You will never believe what just happened!" Clark told me as I joined him after getting changed.

"What?" I asked him curiously, he smirked slightly as Lana passed me with a small shove, I shoved her back before she laughed and headed off. "Clark, eyes back in!"

"I think I have x-ray vision," he told me suddenly making me turn to him and frown.

"We should probably leave this until mom and dad are with us," I told him before grabbing his arm, Pete walked out of the locker room as we passed.

"Izzy?" he asked.

"I'll meet you at the Beanery," I told him as I pressed a kiss to his cheek, "I'm gonna make sure Clark gets home alright first."

"He told you he fell?" Pete smirked making me smile fakely and nod, "I'll see you later then."

"See you," I smiled at him before dragging Clark away with me.

"So when you have these flashes, you can see through anything?" Mom asked curiously. "People, objects?"

"Sometimes I can see through things," he nodded, "Other times it's like an x-ray."

"And there's no warning?" Dad asked, "This just happens?"

"Well, I get a headache and then it hits me," he replied, "I mean, the first time, I thought I was hallucinating and then it happened again."

"There must be a way for you to control it," I pointed out, "I mean... It took me three days to stop sinking through everything I touched."

"Yeah but I see through things, how do I control that?" he countered.

"Practice," I replied simply, "Eyes have muscles just like legs."

"Your sister's right, son," Dad nodded, "Look, all you have to do is figure out a way to, uh, condition them so you don't get random flashes."

"Oh that sounds great," he grumbled, "How am I supposed to do that?" With that he got up and walked out making me roll my eyes at him.

"I'm out," I told mom and dad as I got up with a sigh.

"Where are you off?" dad asked quickly making me turn to him as I shrugged my jacket off.

"The Beanery," I replied, "I'm meeting Pete." Dad frowned slightly making me sigh and wait for it.

"Have fun," Mom interrupted making me grin at her before I turned on my heel and ran out at full speed.

"Hey!" Pete greeted as I walked leisurely into the Beanery five minutes later making me smile sweetly at him, "Clark okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine," I nodded as I dropped onto the sofa next to him, "I was overreacting apparently."

"Well he's your brother, you have the right to," he chuckled at making me grin at him before I leant in and pressed my lips to his. "That never gets old." I smirked slightly as he pressed another kiss to my lips before I pulled away as the waitress came over for our orders.

"Just two coffees would be great," I told her as I leant into Pete's side, playing with his free hand as he draped his arm around my shoulders.

"Coming right up," she smiled at us making me grin back at her.

"The girls were ruthless after you yelled at me across the gym today," I pointed out making him smirk slightly. "They keep asking if I've slept with you yet." His smirk dropped as he tensed slightly making turn my head to him.

"And uh, what did you say?" he asked hesitantly.

"I told them no," I replied, "Casey said Harvey keeps asking her to sleep with him. I was just wondering why you haven't mentioned it."

"We've only been together for a few weeks Izzy," he replied, "I don't want to rush into anything with you." I bit at my lip as I leant into his side, half wondering if he was telling the truth. "You think it's because of Chloe, don't you?"

"I know you're still into her, Pete," I pointed out simply making him sigh.

"Would you believe me if I told you, I'm more into you?" he tried, making me turn my head, "I'm not asking you to sleep with me because I know you're not ready and I don't want to threaten what I have with you." I nodded slightly and smiled, "You're okay?"

"Yeah," I nodded more sure now, "I guess I was just being an idiot." Pete brought his hand to my face, holding me still as he leant in and locked his lips on mine in a gentle yet passionate kiss.

"You're not being an idiot," he told me quietly as his lips brushed mine, "We got together on the spur of the moment... I guess I never made it clear how much I like you."

"I really like you too, Pete," I told him with a smile before I locked my lips on his again, feeling him smirk against my lips as someone cleared their throat behind me. Pulling away, I glanced at the waitress who put the cups on the table making me smile shyly at her before she walked away. "And you're a ridiculously good kisser."

Pete sent me a smug grin at that making me roll my eyes at him as I settled into his hold taking a sip of my coffee. We sat cuddling and chatting for a while before I grinned slightly and stood up, grabbing his hand, dropping money on the table and pulling him from the coffee shop. "Izzy, what the hell?" he asked in shock.

"C'mon Pete," I smirked at him, "Live a little."

I made him take us to the old tree house that was obviously going to be empty now, we spent few hours making out and cuddling before we decided it was time to head home. So he dropped me at the farm and I pressed a soft kiss to his lips before I headed inside.

"Hey honey," Mom greeted as I entered the kitchen, "Have fun with Pete?" I smiled and nodded making her give me a small grin. "I think it's great that you and he are together."

"You do?" I asked, unsure.

"I think your first boyfriend should be someone you trust," she told me, "Not like that jock boy you went to homecoming with."

"Dad doesn't seem too pleased about it," I pointed out as I sat down at the kitchen table, "I thought daddy would have preferred me to be with Pete than with some other guy."

"You're dad's never going to be happy with any boyfriend you have," she told me, "You're his little girl." I shrugged in agreement at that. "Clark and I are headed into town to go shopping in the morning, are you coming with us?"

"Sure," I nodded as I got up from my seat again, pressing a kiss to her cheek before I headed up to my room to change into something comfortable i.e. sweats and Clark's hoody.

"Hey," I smiled at Clark as I walked up the stairs to the loft a little later, "You feeling any better?"

"Not really," he sighed as I hopped up on to the rail as he lounged on the sofa we had up there. "How was your date with Pete?"

"It was a date," I shrugged it off, he turned towards me with a curious look.

"You're mad at him for something," he observed making me roll my eyes and look away.

"Not really," I shrugged, "Just confused, but I'm okay." He nodded and left it at that.

I walked out of hardware store with my backpack filled with things for dad as my gaze landed on Clark who was holding his head, "Clark!" I shouted as I ran over, dodging a car that blared it's horn at me sharply. "Are you okay? Did it happen again?"

He nodded as mom reached us, "Let's go home," she told us.

"No, I'm okay," he told us, "Didn't you need to go to the antique store?" I glanced at mom who nodded before we walked in.

"Hello?" Mom called as I looked around apathetically.

"Mrs Kent," Mrs Greer greeted, making me turn around in confusion, "I-I mean Martha. How are you?"

"Good, how's business?" mom asked her.

"Couldn't be better," Mrs Greer replied, "I'm doing so many estate sales in Metropolis, I'm thinking of selling the place."

"That would be a shame," mom commented, "I thought you loved the store."

"Not really," she shrugged, "I never wanted this life, it just kind of happened." I chewed on my lip as I glanced around again.

"Is Tina around?" Clark asked, "I thought I saw her come in?"

"Uh, she's a Lana's," was the reply, making me glance at her again, "They're inseparable these days."

"Really?" I asked curiously, "I could have sworn..."

"You must be seeing things," Mrs Greer glared at me in a very familiar way, I arched an eyebrow before turning away.

"I need some air," Clark sighed, "I'm gonna go for a walk."

"Uh huh," I nodded as he left, my gaze levelling on Mrs Greer.

"I came to pick up the lamp," mom commented to Mrs Greer who took her gaze from me to look at her.

"Lamp?" she asked curiously.

"The one you were restoring for Jonathan?" mom asked her.

"Oh, yes," she sighed, "Silly me. It's in the back." With that she walked away and I turned towards the room. There was something odd about Mrs Greer, she seemed to be very jittery and the glare she was giving me reminded me of...

My thoughts trailed off as my gaze landed on a stack of bills sticking from under a chest making me move forward to pick it up, "It's not quite ready," Mrs Greer's voice called as she re-entered, "It's..."

"I found this under the chest," I commented as he gaze landed on me.

"I'm such an airhead," she laughed it off as I handed it over, "A client paid me in cash. I've been looking for this all day."

"That's a lot of money, Mrs Greer," I told her, "You should be more careful."

"Thanks," she smiled fakely, before turning to mom, "Why don't you stop by next week? It'll be ready then." I turned to walk out, mom right beside me, "Uh, Mrs Kent? You forgot your purse!"

There it was, Mrs Kent... since when did Mrs Greer call mom that? "Oh, looks like we're both airheads today," Mom laughed slightly before taking it and catching up again.

"Bye!" Mrs Greer called as we walked down the road.

"Mom," I started, making her turn to me, only the sound of the engine caught my attention making me turn. The truck was headed straight for us, Clark at the wheel.

"Clark!" Mom screamed as I yelped, grabbing her, I pushed her out of the way, taking some impact from the truck's wing mirror that had me spinning before I dropped on to my stomach with a groan.

"Mom, are you alright?" Clark's voice shouted as he ran from the other direction, I pushed myself up to my knees, hissing as my ribs cracked back together.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Mom pushed herself off the floor as she ran over to me, "Izzy, honey are you okay?" She took me in to her arms as I looked over her head at Clark who gave me a worried look. There was definitely something happening here.

An hour or two later we were all sat in the kitchen, Mom sat next to me with her hand clamped around mine in worry. "The police found the truck," Dad told us, "Abandoned out by the Stewart's farm."

"Did anybody else see the driver?" Clark asked him.

"No," Dad replied.

"I could have sworn it was you, Clark," Mom commented.

"Yeah," I nodded in agreement, "I guess Clark's not the only one with a vision problem."

"Look, I don't understand," Dad sighed, "Whoever it was, how did they get your keys?"

"I have no idea," mom started, "I only went into the antique..." My head snapped around to her and she gave me a shocked look.

"What is it?" Clark asked us.

"Mrs Greer was acting really strange," I replied, "Plus I found like $5,000 in cash under a dresser. It had a Smallville Savings and Loan band on it. And she said a customer paid her, but..."

"You think it's from the bank robbery?" Clark asked.

"It crossed my mind," I replied simply.

"So wait a minute," Dad interrupted, "Rose took your keys, turned into Clark and then tried to run you both down?"

"Tried," I grumbled slightly.

"You're right, it's crazy," Mom sighed.

"I don't think so," I interrupted.

"Neither do I," Clark nodded. "I saw a flash of Tina Greer's skeleton. It was weird and green. It didn't look human. You know, like the ones you see in anatomy books?"

"Tina was born with soft bone disease," mom told us, "They had her on all these experimental drugs. Doctors didn't believe she'd live to see first grade."

"She did get better, right before her third birthday," Dad pointed out.

"That was right after the meteor shower," I threw in.

"Clark, Izzy, what do you think Tina's doing?" mom asked us.

"I don't know," Clark shrugged, "I saw the same weird skeleton flash just after the robbery. I just wish I could control this."

"Try focusing it, like a telescope," Mom suggested.

"Yeah, start with something small," dad suggested as he pulled something out of his pocket and held up his closed hand, "Try to tell me what I have in my right hand now."

"Your pocket knife," Clark and I replied together.

"You could see through my hand?" he asked, giving me a shocked look.

"You always carry your knife in that pocket," Clark answered for the both of us as I gave him a cheeky grin before I got up and grabbed my buzzing phone from the side.

"Hey," I greeted as I flipped it open, "What's u...?"

"Are you okay?" Pete asked in shock, "I heard you got ran over by a truck."

"I'm fine, Pete," I laughed slightly as mom smiled slightly, dad glared and Clark rolled his eyes.

"I'm coming over," he told me firmly.

"Sure," I laughed, "I'll be in the loft when you get here." With that I hung up and turned towards the others, wincing slightly as pain shot through my side.

"What's wrong?" dad was next to me in a flash.

"I don't know," I replied, before hissing another twinge shot through me making me drop to my knees and clamp my hand on my side. "My ribs..."

"You healed though," Mom walked over, "I heard it click." Another shoot of pain had me clenching my jaw as I lifted my shirt slightly, there was an ugly purple and black bruise where I'd been hit by the wing mirror, but there was a lump under the skin.

"Fuck," I gritted as I pressed a hand to it.

"What is it?" dad asked me hurriedly.

"I healed over something," I replied as I pushed myself to my feet, moving to the draw.

"What are you doing?" Mom shouted as I grabbed a knife.

"I'm getting it out," I told her quickly as I handed the knife to Clark.

"Hell no!" he shot at me.

"C'mon," I groaned at him, "Get it out of me!" Another shooting pain, had me grabbing the worktop as I doubled over, "NOW!"

Dad led mom out of the room as Clark sliced my side open making me whimper in pain before I turned to the door, dad had come back in with tweezers before he knelt in front of me and pulled a large piece of glass from my side making me groan in pain before I felt my skin stitching itself together again.

I let out a small sigh of relief as the pain in my side ebbed away making me lean against the work top. "Are you okay?" Dad asked me in concern, I nodded as I looked down at my side, the only sign something was wrong being the blood on my skin.

"Note to self, make sure there's nothing left in my wound before it heals," I muttered with a sheepish smile as my phone buzzed again. I flipped it open to a text telling me Pete was waiting in the loft. So I washed my side of blood and changed my shirt before I headed out to see him.

"What's wrong?" I asked as I walked out of class with Lana the next day, Whitney walking just behind us with Sean.

"Nothing," She replied, making me frown at her, "I'll tell you later, okay?"

"I'll hold you to that," I told her firmly, she sent me a grin, but it was forced.

"Lana!" Tina Greer's voice called down the hallway, making us turn towards her.

"I swear that girl's got you lojacked," Whitney commented making me smirk as Lana sent us both 'shut up' looks.

"How do you like the sweater?" Tina asked as she joined us.

"It's great, I've got one just like it," Lana replied.

"I know," Tina smiled, "I got it at the same store. I've been going on this shopping spree. Hey, look. I even found this emerald necklace in the antique store."

"Why am I not surprised?" Whitney commented with an eye roll, "See you at lunch." He told Lana and me before walking off.

"Hey, wait up I have Chem with you!" I called to him before looking at Lana, ignoring Tina's existence. "I'm gonna hold you to that talk Lana." She nodded.

"I promise," she told me making me nod before I walked off to catch up with Whitney, who draped his arm around my shoulder making me roll my eyes.

"What's with Lana and that Tina girl?" he asked me curiously making me look up at him and shrug as we stopped at my locker to grab my books, which he took off of me immediately. "The three of us have been friends since pre-k."

"So why don't you like her anymore?" he asked me with a grin.

"When I started hanging out with Pete more often she turned kinda bitchy," I shrugged, "She's got this thing where she thinks Lana likes me more than her..."

"Which she does," Whitney smirked, I rolled my eyes at him as we walked into the classroom and took our usual seats.

"Point is, after I started hanging out with Pete and Greg and Clark more, whenever I was with Lana, Tina'd show up and take her away for something," I shrugged, "So I started doing it to her."

"So you're arguing over Lana?" he asked me, I shrugged and smiled innocently.

"Plus she's kinda a freak too," I pointed out, he laughed at that and nodded in agreement.

"So she just freaked out cause you didn't say you'd let her live with you?" I asked in amusement as I sat on Lana's porch swing with her.

"Yeah," she nodded with a frown, she caught sight of my smirk and shoved my arm, "Seriously, Izzy, it's not funny."

"I told you she was a freak," I pointed out, she sighed slightly making me frown. "So she took off... what else is bothering you?"

"Nothing," she replied, I arched an eyebrow, "Okay... I got my mom's diary. And I found out that the Laura Lang I've been trying to live up to... didn't even exist." I frowned even more at that, "She didn't want to be a cheerleader, she didn't even want to stay in Smallville." She paused, "She gave the graduation speech, and I'm gonna try to find it."

"Then I'll help," I told her simply before looking at my watch, "In the morning cause if I don't go home dad's gonna freak." She laughed as we both stood up, hugging before I left with a wave.

"I told her it wasn't such a good idea," I heard Lana's voice from the loft making me stop dead, "I've got enough problems with Nell without adding more to the mix."

"I always thought you and your aunt were really close," Clark commented as I walked inside, slowly moving up the stairs.

"She wants me to be something I'm not," Lana replied, "It's like having a dual identity. There's the person that everybody sees, and the person that you want to be."

"I know the feeling," Clark replied.

"That's why I came here," Lana smiled at him as I looked over the rail, hiding in the shadows, "I think you're the only person who sees me for who I truly am. I want to thank you for that." With that Lana pulled Clark into a kiss, only for him to pull away.

"What about Whitney?" Clark asked in shock.

"Forget Whitney," Lana replied making me glare at the back of her head, "I've had my eye on you, just like you've had your eye on me." She pulled him into a kiss again.

"Tina," I snapped as I walked into the light, she pulled away, shifting back to herself as Clark gave her a shocked look.

"I don't know how you found out about that money, but you should have stayed out of my life, Clark," she told him before tossing him through the wall of the loft, turning to me and glaring darkly. "You always show up at the most inconvenient times."

"It's a gift," I shrugged at her as she walked toward me before diving at me, only to go straight through me and over the rail of the loft. When I turned around to look down, she wasn't there.

Half an hour later we were all in the loft as dad entered, "Well, there's no sign of Tina or Lana or..."

"Are you positive you saw her turn back into Tina?" mom asked us, I nodded simply.

"I think the meteor shower did something to her bones," Clark told them.

"So she can change her appearance at will?" Dad asked.

"Yeah," I nodded, "And it gives her super strength too cause she threw Clark out of the loft."

"What should we tell the police?" Mom asked us.

"Nothing," Clark replied, "Tina can turn into whoever she wants and I'm the only one who can tell the difference."

"Speak for yourself," I smirked at him, he gave me a curious look. "I've known Tina since we were born... I know her better than her own mother does."

"Pete, you throw that rubber spider again and I'm going for my staple gun!" Chloe snapped as we walked into the Torch the next day after school.

"He got you too, huh?" I asked in amusement making her turn to me, taking in Lana who was stood beside me. "Can we come in?"

"The girl who writes for 'The Pom-pom Parade' failed to turn up on time," Chloe commented making me smirk.

"This week's editorial?" Lana asked as I walked forward and dropped into one of the computer chairs, logging on to my Torch ID.

"Chloe's semi-annual 'Where Are Our Priorities' rant," I corrected.

"For what it's worth, I really like what you guys have done with the paper this year," Lana commented making me smirk.

"Well, that puts you in the majority of one," Chloe told her, "I'm sorry about the pom-pom crack. Once I hit 'take no prisoners' mode, it's kind of hard for me to shut it off."

"I'm used to it from Izzy," Lana replied, "And I kind of admire it. You know who you are and you go for it."

"Well, I appreciate the compliment," Chloe smiled as I finished up the article she wanted. "However, I know you haven't come down to this hole to give me a pep talk."

"The Torch prints the graduation speech every year, right?" Lana asked, I smirked at that, she'd make a good reporter too.

"Having transcribed last year's snore-fest, that's an unfortunate yes," Chloe nodded, "What year?"

"'77," I replied for her.

"That's PC," Chloe told me, I nodded and moved towards the old copies.

"PC?" Lana asked.

"Pre-computer," Chloe replied, "When disco ruled the earth. Anything we have before then is gonna be HC."

"Hard copy," Lana nodded.

"You catch on fast," Chloe smirked as I pulled out the copy from the filing cabinet, handing it to Chloe. "Here we go. 'Saturday Night Fever' was their prom theme. Styx won 'Group of the Century', and wow... Someone got in the administration's collective face."

I looked over her shoulder, reading, "Due to the controversial nature of this year's graduation address, the editors have elected not to run the text in this issue of the Torch," I smirked, "Meaning, ironically, it's probably the only one worth reading."

"Maybe I could track something down for you," Chloe suggested, "Do you know who gave the speech?"

"Yeah," Lana nodded, "My mother."

"So you're telling me Tina Greer can bend her bones like a contortionist and become anybody she wants?" Pete asked the next day as we headed towards Tina's house.

"I saw it with my own eyes," Clark replied.

"I'm sorry, this is usually Chloe's territory," Pete commented, "I cover girls, football and general guy stuff." I glanced up at him, "She does the tales of the unexplained. So why don't you give her a call?"

"She's busy doing something else, "I replied.

"That's like getting turned down by the National Enquirer," Pete pointed out as he pulled me closer to his side.

"Tell me again why we're friends?" Clark asked him.

"Because even when I think you're whacked, I show up ready to rumble," Pete replied, "And I'm the love of your sister's life." I chuckled at that as I pulled away from him to check the door to the antique shop. "Great, it's closed."

"Pete..." I sighed at him.

"Haven't either of you watched Cops?" he asked us, "The last place Tina's gonna be hiding out is in her mom's store." I turned away from him, my gaze on Clark as he looked at something, "Earth to Clark? Is everything okay?"

"I need to get in there," Clark replied making me frown before I nodded.

"Okay, wait here," I told the two of them before I headed around the back, to Pete I was climbing up a drain pipe or something. To Clark, and me, I was walking through a wall.

I walked towards the door and unlocked it, letting them in, Clark went straight to a closet and as he opened it Rose Greer fell out. "Whoa!" Pete backed off, "Who's that?"

"Tina's mom," I replied as I crouched next to her.

"Damn," Pete muttered, "How'd you know she was in there?"

"Because I can see right through the door, Pete," Clark replied simply.

"Very funny, Sherlock," Pete laughed it off, "How do you think she died?"

"Broken neck?" I more asked than stated, Clark nodded discreetly as I stood up.

"My call, Tina's already on a bus to Metropolis," Pete commented.

"I don't think so," I replied as my gaze landed on a sheet of paper with Lana's signature all over it.

"Why's she writing Lana's signature," Pete asked.

"She's obsessed with her," Clark replied.

"And she's taking it to the next level," I added through a clenched jaw.

"She wants to kill Lana?" Pete asked in shock.

"She wants to be Lana," I replied as I walked out of the shop, pulling my phone out to call the cops about the body as I went.

I took off running when I finished calling them, she was upset... meaning she was at the cemetery talking to her parents. "Izzy, what are you doing here?" Whitney asked as I walked towards her parents' grave.

"I was gonna ask you the same thing," I replied, "Where's Lana?"

"I don't know," he replied, "Nell said she came out here, but I can't find her." My gaze landed on Lana's necklace in his hands making my eyes narrow.

"What's the matter, Izzy?" he asked me as he picked up a pipe, he swung it before I had a chance to do anything. I let out a gasp of pain as it hit me in the stomach making me double over.

"Tina," I gritted out, "Where's Lana?"

"Tina doesn't exist anymore," she told me simply as she hit me hard with the pipe, sending me

flying back into a tombstone. I let out a groan as I got up.

"Tina, I know what it's like to live with a secret," I told her as I felt my bones crack back into place, "I know what happened to your mom."

"That was a lifetime ago," she told me, still as Whitney, "And don't worry about Lana, you'll be joining her very soon." She took Whitney's jacket off, tossing it to the side. "I ran you over and you didn't die... I'm not making the same mistake twice." She swung again, but I let it pass through me before I dodged around her.

"Where's Lana?" I asked angrily.

She swung again, but I knocked it out of her hand before I pinned her to a tombstone with more force than I knew I had. "Who are you?" she asked in shock before shoving me backwards, I let myself pass through a tombstone before I rolled with the impact and got back up again.

"Where is she?" I demanded.

"She's dead," was the reply making me glare darkly as she picked up the pipe again. Anger vibrated through me, literally as she swung at me making me grab it before I rammed my shoulder into her, she flew backwards into a tree... morphing back into Tina again as she hit the ground.

"Lana!" I screamed immediately as Clark super-sped towards me, he took a look at Tina on the floor and my ripped and blood stained shirt before he looked around, concentrating.

"C'mon," he told me before running off, I was right behind him as he punched hole in the lid of a coffin, before pulling it off, revealing an unconscious Lana. I bit my lip as he picked her up to carry her out.

We were stood on Lana's porch, the police taking out statements as Clark stood off to the side, Chloe approaching him. The police nodded as we finished up before they turned to leave, Chloe walking towards us as I ran a hand through my hair. "I did some digging," she told us before handing Lana a tape labelled 'Graduation Address 1977'.

"Oh, my God!" Lana gasped, "How did you find this?"

"If I told you, I'd have to kill you," Chloe replied, "And it looked like you've had enough trauma for one night... plus, apparently Izzy's really protective." I shrugged with a smirk.

"Chloe, thank you," Lana told her.

"No problem," she told her before walking off with a nod to me, I smiled back before turning to Lana.

"How'd you find me?" she asked curiously.

"You were upset," I replied, "You always talk to your mom and dad when you're upset." She smiled softly, "So I came to find you, and Tina was there... we fought it out."

She chuckled before pulling me into a hug as Whitney ran over, pulling her into a hug before hugging me too. "Thank you," he told me as he held me by my shoulders.

"Didn't do it for you," I told him, "But you're welcome." With one last smile to Lana I headed over to Clark, where he was stood with mom and dad.

"So what happened with Tina?" I asked curiously as I reached them.

"She won't be able to hurt anyone else," mom replied as she pulled me to her side, I rested my head on her shoulder.

"I still don't understand why a girl would do all that," Dad commented.

"I do," I muttered.

"You go through a life with a gift you have to keep secret," Clark added, "When you see everyone around you being normal, you get jealous. You just want to be somebody else." His gaze moved to where Whitney was guiding Lana into the house.

"You really like her, huh?" Mom asked him, he smiled faintly as mom pulled away to walk back with dad.

"Izzy, if you could see everything, what would you do?" Clark asked quietly making me glance up at him.

"Learn to close my eyes," I replied as I glanced at the door too. "She's happy Clark..."

"Yeah, I know," he sighed before we both turned to head back to the farm.

**AN: Sorry it took so long, I got caught up with my other stories =/**

**But here it is X-Ray.**

**Let me know what you think :D**


	5. 05 Cool

**Episode 05 – Cool**

"This is what I love about high school parties," Chloe commented as I stood next to her, "People will gather anywhere as long as there's illegally purchased alcohol and even the slightest chance of hooking up."

"If I recall correctly," Clark smirked, "You're the one who wanted to come to this party." I smirked at that.

"Yeah, but I didn't know it was going to be this cold," Chloe complained, "It's like twenty thousand degrees below zero out here."

"It's winter," I smirked at her.

"I don't know, it doesn't feel that cold to me," Clark commented.

"Are you from an ice planet?" Chloe asked, I bit back a laugh, "It's freezing. I'm going to go thaw out by the fire." She took my arm, "And Izzy needs to talk to her popular friends. See ya."

"Have fun!" I called over my shoulder, my gaze taking in Sean walking over to Clark making me frown before I headed over to Whitney and some of his other jock friends.

"Izzy!" they greeted with a cheer making me roll my eyes as I wrapped my arms around myself, shivering horribly, until one of them, Jamie, dropped his jacket over my shoulders making me look up at him and grin in thanks.

"We're gonna do 'Hail Marys' down by the lake," Whitney commented, "You in?"

"Sure," I grinned at him, "Show you how a girl can whoop your ass." He grinned at me and shook his head before turning to the fire.

"Yo Sean!" he called, I turned to see him talking to Chloe making me arch an eyebrow, "Hail Marys down by the lake!"

"Yeah!" he called back before turning to Chloe and asking something. I smirked as she gave him her number before I followed the guys down to the lake, shrugging Jamie's jacket on properly as I did.

We were passing the ball around for a while when I smirked slightly, "Whit, go wide!" I called to him, he gave me a surprised look before running back a few steps, I rolled my eyes before reeling back and tossing it, he gave me a surprised look before running backwards, jumping to catch it as Jamie shoved my shoulder, I grinned up at him.

"So what's with you and Chloe?" I asked Sean as he joined my side after a catch. He shrugged with a smirk making me frown at him as he sent the ball towards one of the other guys, running to tackle Whitney with a laugh.

"What's with the girl from the Torch man?" Whitney asked him.

"Another notch, dog," Sean replied making my eyes narrow as I jumped for a catch.

"Sean!" I called before tossing it, he missed the catch and the ball went out on to the frozen lake. "Oops, sorry!"

"Don't worry about it," he called back, before heading out on to the ice as Whitney joined my side.

"Pizza," he nodded for me to come with him, I bundled myself up in Jamie's jacket before we headed over to the fires.

It was an hour or so later that I looked around the party, my gaze avoiding Clark who was frowning at me sitting with Jamie whilst wearing his jacket. "Where's Sean?" I asked out loud.

"Who knows?" Jamie grinned back, "Probably in the back of some car." I shrugged, he was probably right.

"The distributor get's twelve five," Mom's voice commented the next morning as I pulled my boots on .

"The feed bill over six months at five percent," dad added.

"Plus the mortgage at eight point two," mom told him, "Plus the harvester repairs gives us..."

"Fifty four thousand five hundred and one dollars," I told them as I walked in, "And thirty eight cents."

"Hey, honey," mom greeted.

"Sorry, we didn't mean for you to hear all that," dad told me, I shrugged it off.

"You don't need to protect me," I told him, "Is it really that bad though?"

"Yeah, it's pretty bad," mom nodded, "We might have to take out a bank loan..."

"Another one?" I asked her, "The interest alone would put us up to..."

"Izzy, don't," dad told me I bit my lip to stop myself from saying it.

"Maybe Clark and I can help," I offered.

"You already have," dad told me, "Last season you saved us four part-time hands."

"I'm thinking bigger," I told him, "Like, forget high school and try pro-sports or something. Clark can make a ton of money in endorsements." Mom glared, "Trying to lighten the mood."

"As much as we'd love to see our children on cereal boxes, we'd settle for you getting to school on time," she told me, "Clark's already left." I sighed and grabbed my bag as well as Jamie's jacket.

"Oh and by the way, it was sixty-five thousand, two hundred..." I started.

"Go!" she laughed.

"And one," I smirked before I ran out of the house, joining Clark, Chloe and Pete at the bus stop. "Did Sean call?"

"Negative," Chloe replied. "Not that I was waiting by the phone or anything."

"Maybe he got caught up," Pete suggested, his gaze on the jacket wrapped around the arm strap of my bag. "One time, my sister didn't hear from a guy or week. When she called to tell him off, it turned out his grandma had died."

"Ah, as much as I appreciate the spotlight here, I'm fine," Chloe told us.

"It's a good thing Chloe," Clark told her, "Sean's an ass."

"He's not that bad," Pete told him, "He's pretty cool when he wants to be. Just because you can't get over Lana, you should knock everyone else for trying to make a love connection."

"I thought we were focusing on me, here," Chloe asked.

"I don't have a crush on Lana," Clark argued.

"Then why don't you ask someone else out?" Pete asked him.

"Like who?" he asked me.

"Like Chloe," Pete pointed out.

"Okay, wait!" Chloe snapped, "I'm not some crash test dummy you guys can use to try our your dating skills!" she glanced at Clark, "You, if you like Lana so much, why don't you just ask her out and get it over with?" She looked at Pete, "And you, stop acting like a Vegas bookie picks your dates." She looked at me, "And you, Pete wants explanations for why his girlfriend has someone else's letterman jacket." She looked at the three of us, "And all three of you, treat me better." I frowned and looked at the floor.

"Good point Chloe," Pete commented before looking at me, "Whose is that?"

"Jamie's," I replied, with a shrug as the bus pulled up, I hopped on before there were more questions.

"No, wait, don't walk away," he called to me as I sat down, he took the seat next to me, "Why've you got Jamie's jacket?"

"I was cold last night," I replied, "He gave it to me to stop me shivering." He frowned, "I'm sorry, I forgot my jacket and you weren't there."

"Clark said you spent most of the night with him," Pete told me.

"I spent the night with Whitney and the guys," I shrugged, "Like I do at most parties. What's the problem all of a sudden?" He frowned and sat back in the seat making me roll my eyes at him.

I got off the bus as quick as possible when we got to the school, getting as far away from Pete as I possibly could. I could feel his glare on my back as I met up with Jamie, handing him his jacket back before falling into step with him.

I walked into the Beanery at lunch to see Lana and Whitney talking at the table, he was probably telling her he couldn't go to Metropolis because of fight night. I smiled and waved at her as he got back up, kissing her cheek before joining me, "Ready?" he asked me, I nodded and followed him back out, only half catching sight of the confused look Lana sent me.

"So, what's with you and Pete?" Whitney asked as I walked with him to his truck.

"What do you mean?" I asked him.

"He spent most of the day glaring at the back of your head," he replied, "And he ripped into Jamie at practice."

"He what?" I asked him as I stopped walking.

"Yeah," Whitney nodded, "Said something about him not letting him take you or something. I mean, Pete flipped." I frowned at that before looking at the floor.

"I'm gonna need a rain check," I told Whitney.

"You sure?" he asked, I nodded. "Are you still coming to fight night?" I nodded and walked away from him.

"Wait, let me get this straight – you walked into to get a cappuccino, and walked out with a date with Lana Lang?" Chloe asked as I walked towards the three who were loitering outside the school after the last lesson.

"It's not actually a date," Clark commented.

"Even with the just as friends thing, I'm impressed," Chloe told him.

"How did you score the tickets?" Pete asked as I walked over, he glanced at me before looking away at the sight of my glare.

"I'm guessing a certain follicle challenged individual was behind that," I commented.

"Lex hooked me up," Clark shrugged, "Chloe I have you to thank."

"What did I do?" she asked in shock.

"You were right," Clark smiled, "I just had to get it out there."

"Well, good, I'm glad," she told him making me smile at her before I turned to Pete.

"I need to talk to you," I told him simply, he scratched the back of his head bore nodding as my gaze landed on Sean walking up to us, "Here's your chance Chloe."

"What's wrong?" Pete asked as we walked a little way away from them.

"Whitney told me you freaked out at Jamie at practice," I told him, he frowned at the floor, "What's the problem Pete?"

"You're supposed to be my girlfriend," he replied, "But instead of spending time together, you're with them. You walk around wearing _his_ jacket and he was..."

"He was what?" I asked him in a dangerously calm voice.

"He was talking to Sean and Whitney about you," he replied, "The way he talked about you, it was like he already had you." My frown lessened.

"You think I'd do that to you?" I asked him, he sighed. "Pete for God's sake! We've been friends since Kindergarten! I've liked you since 2nd Grade! I'm not going to mess up the only chance I have with you by cheating on your with some dumb jock!"

"2nd Grade?" he asked me in shock as I caught sight of Clark and Chloe paying very close attention.

"So not the point right now," I told him firmly, "My point... is that you don't seem to trust me." I could feel tears prickling at my eyes.

"Izzy I..." he started before trailing off with a sigh. "It's not that I don't trust you, it's more that I don't trust them."

"Well you're going to have to learn," I told him as my voice cracked, "They're my friends too. And I'm not the type of girl that lets her boyfriend tell her who she can and can't hang out with." With that I turned on my heel and started to walk away.

"Wait, Izzy," he shouted towards me, attracting more attention as I turned to face him. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean, is I'm hanging out with them tonight," I replied, "You can either get over it, or come with me." He gave me a shocked look before frowning in thought. "Call me when you make your mind up." With that I walked away from him, fighting back angry tears as I did.

I walked into the kitchen with a frown in place as I pulled my hair back in a messy bun before searching the fridge for food. "Izzy honey?" Mom asked since I hadn't taken notice of them being in there, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I muttered, in a tone that said just the opposite.

"Hello Citizens!" Clark walked into the kitchen happily making me look at him before rolling my eyes and grabbing a bottle of water.

"I'm not familiar with these children mom commented to dad, "Where's the moody boy and cheerful girl that live upstairs, they can run really fast too."

"I have a date tonight," Clark explained, "Not a date, date, but a concert." I frowned slightly as I started to leave the room.

"Wait right there," Dad called to me, "We're not done with you yet." I rolled my eyes and leant against the door frame. "Just who might this not-a-date date be with?"

"Lana Lang," Clark replied, "Lex hooked me up with a couple of serious tickets and his limo."

"Oh, did he?" Dad asked in a suspicious tone.

"Clark? Isn't Lana still going out with Whitney?" Mom asked him.

"She's not married, Mom," Clark replied before leaving the room. Mom and dad shared a look before turning to me.

"Why're you upset?" mom asked me.

"It's nothing," I replied with a shrug, "I've got to go get ready, I'm watching the fight with the guys tonight." I turned to leave.

"Isabelle!" Dad called making me stop and turn to him, he caught my gaze and his stern look softened. "What's wrong?" I could feel tears stinging at my eyes again.

"Nothing," I replied in as light a tone as I could, my voice still cracked as I did though. "I just found out that my boyfriend is just as much as an ass as every other guy on this planet, that's all."

"What'd Pete do?" Mom asked.

I sighed and explained the argument with him, "...and he still hasn't called me," I told her, "So I'm going without him." With that I turned and walked out of the kitchen, neither called me back as I let a tear fall down my cheek.

I met Chloe as I walked up the stairs, her having been giving Clark fashion advice, "Hey," she greeted, I fixed a fake smile on my face, "I just got off the phone with Sean."

"And?" I asked her curiously as she followed me back up the stairs to my room.

"He said he wasn't feeling well earlier," she replied, I smiled at that, my mind not really working all that well.

"You like him?" I asked her curiously as I pulled jeans and a low cut jumper from my closet.

"He may be a little intellectually challenged, but he's really hot," she replied, I grinned in agreement, "Besides, he begged to get together tonight just to talk, so I told him he could bring me coffee at the Torch."

"Sounds like a date," I told her.

"It's not a date," she told me, "It's a fact finding mission to see if he deserves a date."

"He's blowing off his friends," I told her. "It's fight night and he's going out with you instead." She gave me a surprised look before she seemed to remember something.

"What's going on with you and Pete?" she asked curiously.

"I don't know," I replied simply.

"Are you guys still together?" she asked curiously as I pulled my other shirt on.

"As of..." I looked at my clock, "...ten minutes ago, no we are not." She gave me a shocked look.

"Izzy..." she started.

"I told him to call me so we could talk, I gave him time to think about our argument and... nothing," I told her. "So as far as I'm concerned, he's not worth it anymore."

"What happened to giving people second chances?" she asked me.

"Never really believe in second chances," I told her, "Especially if it can lead to me getting my heart broken."

"So what's Lana up to tonight?" I asked as I leant into Whitney's side, my feet on Jamie's lap as we waited for the fight to start.

"I don't know," he replied with a shrug, "We were supposed to be going to Metropolis, but this was happening... she seemed to understand."

"She's probably hanging with the girls then," I told him with a small smirk as an emergency news bulletin came on the TV.

"And in Smallville tonight, police are seeking seventeen year old Sean Kelvin after the mysterious death of a fellow Smallville High student Jenna Barnum, whose body was found early this afternoon..." I sat up straight at that as the guys all started muttering in shock. "Kelvin was last seen leaving-,"

"Shit!" I muttered as I got up quickly.

"Hey! Where're you going?" Whitney and Jamie shouted to me as I ran from the house headed straight for the school.

I got to the Torch office to see her Chloe with Clark, "You deserved a lot better than Sean even before he tried to kill you," Clark told her as I walked in.

"You okay?" I asked her in a hurry, rushing over, she nodded as I pulled her into a hug.

"Any idea what happened to him?" Clark asked her.

"The only similar thing I can find is a medical condition where there's damage to the thermo sensitive cells in the brain," Chloe replied, "The person literally can't stay warm. It's like a permanent case of hypothermia."

"So Sean's getting his heat where he can take it," Clark commented.

"Yeah, preferably from high-school girls," I commented.

"But you saw the pool," Chloe pointed out, "You take the heat out of water, you get ice. He's like a battery that can't hold its charge. I think we should call for help."

"We'll take care of that," I told her, "Clark's gonna get you home. Come on."

"Y-you have to believe me when I saw that almost getting my heat sucked was not a passive-aggressive attempt to ruin your date and night with the boys," Chloe told us as she shivered.

"Lana," Clark muttered in realisation as he led her out.

After checking out the pool I headed back out, locking up the Torch and the school on my way before I headed out to look for Clark. He was probably going to the Beanery to find Lana, so I'd start there. "Hey Whit," I smiled at Whitney who was heading in when I got there.

"Hey Iz," he smiled at me, "You ran off back there."

"I uh... Chloe was supposed to be out with Sean tonight," I told him, "Had to check she was okay." He nodded in understanding before we walked in, my gaze landing on Pete who was with Lana.

"Lana!" Whitney greeted, "What are you doing here?"

"Just reading," she replied with a shrug as Pete caught my gaze with an apologetic one.

"Pretty dressed up to be digging into a book," Whitney commented.

"I'll catch you later," Pete told Lana as he moved to walk off.

"Pete, why don't you take your date for a spin in the limo?" Lana called as he passed me making him stop walking as I tensed and looked at the floor.

"She's not a date, she's just a friend," he told her as he sent me a look, I looked away tears stinging in my eyes.

"Either way, I won't be needing it," Lana told him as she gave me a sad look, I smiled fakely before I turned to walk away.

"Thanks," Pete sighed as I walked out of the Beanery all together. Lana and Whitney passed me as I leant against the wall outside, pausing to give me a look.

"I'm fine," I told her, "Go ahead."

"I'll call you later, okay?" she asked me, I nodded with a weak smile.

"Izzy," Pete walked out, some cheerleader trailing behind him, he turned and said something to her before walking over to me. "This is not what it looks like."

"Really?" I asked him, "Cause to me it looks like you hanging out with some girl I've never seen you with before, just because I wanted to hang out with my guy friends, instead of calling me to tell me whether you were going to come with me or not." He gave me a sad look, "Translation, you were trying to get me jealous of some cheerleader hoping I'd see what I was doing to you when I hung out with Jamie."

"Izzy..." he tried as I finally looked up at him, tears glistening down my cheeks. "I'm sorry."

"Too late," I told him, "I always said that if a guy hurt me there'd be no second chances. You don't know how many chances I've given you over the years Pete... I'm done."

"Izzy, please," he sighed, grabbing my arm.

"Go take your date in the Limo," I told him, "Tell me all about it tomorrow... like friends do." He let out a resigned 'croak' as his hand fell from my arm making me offer a watery smile before I turned to walk away.

I was sat on the porch as I looked up at the sky, a frown etched on to my face as I thought over what had happened in the past few days. My phone buzzed in my pocket making me frown before I took it out, "Hey Lana what's...?" I started.

"It's Whitney," he told me simply, "We were in a crash, she's hurt her ankle. We're headed to the Luthor mansion; do you think you could meet us?"

"I'm on my way," I told him immediately as I snapped my phone shut, putting it in my pocket before I took off towards town, veering off to go to the Luthor Estate. I skid to a stop by Whitney's truck, my gaze on Clark who was practically frozen making me gasp as I dropped down next to him. "Hey, Spaceman, wake your ass up!"

I spent a few minute slapping at his face before he groaned and woke up, "What way did he go?" I asked him quickly.

"Lex's..." Clark muttered, making me take off towards the Luthor Estate.

"What do you want?" I heard mom's voice from around back making me change direction.

"Who me?" Sean asked, "I just want to get warm."

"Get away from her, Sean," I warned dangerously.

"Izzy," Mom called.

"Get in the house, mom," I told her, "Go, now!" She gave me frightened look before doing just that.

"That's your mom?" Sean asked me as he turned back to me, "She's hot!"

"You have to go to the hospital," I told him gently, he was my friend after all.

"What are they going to do? Put me under an electric blanket?" he snapped at me, "I need heat, Izzy... Contact! That's the only think that's going to work for me. Every person's another fix."

"You're not getting into that house," I told him simply.

"Who's gonna stop me? You?" he smirked, "Oooh! Brr!" He launched at me knocking me on to my back as we grappled with each other before he pinned me, his skin turning normal as I clenched my fists angrily.

"I don't know what it is about you," he smirked, "But I haven't felt this good in two days. And when I'm done with you, there's your mom, your dad, your brother... and Lana."

"You're not getting anywhere near them," I growled at him as I felt my fist heat up unbelievably, the heat travelling up my arms as I bucked against him. Clark appeared behind him as I threw him off of me and Clark grabbed him before tossing him towards the lake... which froze over instantly.

"Izzy..." Clark muttered as I sat up, my arms covered in flames until I looked at them... they shut off immediately, not even looking like they'd been on fire in the first place.

"How'd it go with that cheerleader?" I asked Pete nonchalantly as we walked down the hallway of the school the next day.

"Izzy..." he started making me give him an emotionless glance, "It was cool."

"Great," I smiled at him, "She was cute."

"You okay?" Clark asked making us both turn to Chloe who was putting a candle on the shrine for Jenna.

"Yeah," she nodded, "the memorial service is tomorrow. I was just thinking how that could have been me. All because some guy expressed some modicum of interest in me. I thought I was stronger than that."

"Everybody's searching for their soul mate, Chloe," I told her with a shrug, "It's not a sign of weakness."

"I can't believe all our nights went to hell and Pete ended up with a Limo," I laughed slightly as I glanced at him, he gave me a sad look before smiling as the others looked at him. "You set up another one?"

"Next weekend," he replied as I felt a slight twinge in my chest, but I ignored it and smirked.

"I'm swearing off men," Chloe told us.

"Right there with ya," I told her as I linked my arm though hers

"We're not all bad," Clark complained.

"Maybe you should just swear off heat-seeking horn dogs," Pete suggested making me smirk slightly.

"The next guy hat asks me out, I'm definitely doing an in-depth background check," Chloe told me, ignoring the comments, I smirked at that and laughed slightly before my gaze landed on Clark who was looking at Lana.

"C'mon guys, Clark will catch up later," I told them as I pulled Chloe away, Pete followed. For the first time in a while, when the jocks waved me over to talk to them, I shook my head and nodded towards Chloe and Pete making them wave it off as it was okay.

**AN: So that was 'Cool' not that great I know, but I had to do it and I think it was okay compared to what I could have written.**

**Let me know what you think!**


	6. 06 Hourglass

**06 – Hourglass**

"How'd you manage to talk me into this?" I asked Lana as I walked along side her, she was pushing a cart full of books around to give to the residents of the care home.

"You need 30 hours of community service," she told me.

"I could have gotten lifeguard at the pool," I told her, "The guys swim team are there this afternoon." She rolled her eyes at me for that as we exited another room.

"Hi Clark, Pete," she greeted making me look up before nodding.

"Lana!" Clark greeted in fake surprise, "I didn't know you were volunteering here."

"Yeah right," I smirked, noticing Pete mutter it too.

"For a couple of weeks now," she replied, "Are you part of the companion program?"

"Yeah, I'm reading with Cassandra," Clark replied.

"She's an _interesting _woman," I smirked slightly, "Some of the nurses say she can see the future."

"C'mon Izzy," Lana nodded for me to follow, "You can go hang with Mr Bollston." I rolled my eyes before sighing and following her out.

I walked into one of the rooms, knocking on the door as I entered, "Mr Bollston?" I asked curiously, "I'm Isabelle Kent." The old, heavyset man, around 70-ish raised a hand to shush me as he enjoyed the music making me arch an amused eyebrow. After the music met its peak, he reached over and switched it off before turning his wheelchair around to face me.

"Kent," he greeted, "The Kents moved to Smallville in 1932. Took over a couple of dust bowl farms... knew a bargain when they saw it."

"You're a local history buff, huh?" I asked him as I leant on the door frame.

"It's kind of my obsession," he replied, "So... are you my next victim?"

"You don't look that scary to me," I told him simply.

"You should have seen me in my younger days," he replied making me smile.

"I'm sure you were quite the heartbreaker," I told him smoothly.

"How about a spin around the grounds?" he asked me, "And you can tell me what the Kents have been doing since 1932?"

"Sounds good to me," I told him as I moved to the back of his chair, pushing him out of his room. I took him to the bridge over the koi pong where we stopped. "It's beautiful. I don't know why people don't come out here." I flicked the breaks on.

"They're too busy watching television," he replied as he pulled his robe tighter around him neck. "Say, would you mind running back to my room and getting me a scarf? Don't want to catch a chill."

"Sure," I nodded.

"Thanks honey... you're a doll," he told me. I smiled at him before heading back inside at a jog.

Heading back out my gaze found an empty bridge, "What the hell?" I muttered as I walked over to it, looking every way, all I saw was a youngish blond guy but nothing else. "How the hell did I lose a whole old person and a wheelchair?"

I bit at my lip as I wracked my mind about the old man as we walked into the Beanery, "It's not your fault, Izzy," Lana told me making me glance at her.

"Do you know anyone else who's lost an entire old person in a wheelchair?" I asked her simply.

"No," Chloe replied, "That's pretty impressive, even by Smallville standards." I sighed and slipped into a seat at one of the tables, Chloe and Clark opposite Lana and me.

"Maybe he was kidnapped," Clark suggested.

"Who'd want to kidnap Mr Bollston?" I asked him, "He's just a harmless old man."

"Maybe the koi turned into a piranha and ate him," Chloe smirked making me frown at her before sighing, "You asked for my help. I'm just thinking out of the box."

"I like your theory," the blond guy sat behind her commented as he turned around, my gaze shot to him and I frowned slightly.

"You know, you might want to work on your eavesdropping techniques," Chloe commented.

"Sorry," he offered a smile, "I'm – uh – I'm new in town. I just heard this is where young people congregate." I arched an amused eyebrow at the choice of words as Lana sent me a look.

"Yeah, we congregate here often," Chloe commented sarcastically.

"Hi," Clark greeted as damage control, "I'm Clark. The rude one's Chloe, this is Lana Lang and my sister..."

"Isabelle Kent," the guy said before him, I gave him a surprised look. "The name tag was a big clue." I glanced at my shirt, I was still wearing my stick on name tag from the centre. "So uh... good luck finding your missing old person." He turned back at that and I frowned at the back of his head as the others swapped looks.

"Enjoy your coffee," a waitress told him as she handed him his drink, "They brought it in by burro this morning."

"Thanks honey, you're a doll," the guy replied making me freeze.

"You okay Izzy?" Lana asked curiously, I nodded as I took my gaze from the back of the guys head.

"Seriously though," I sighed as I sat on the top of the truck's cabin, "A whole person!"

"They'll find him," Clark sighed making me frown before I watched him unload another crate only to turn my head as a black Ferrari skidded and zoomed down the driveway at a high speed. He skid to a stop right in front of us.

"You might want to consider rounding those curves at a speed that won't actually break the sound barrier," Clark commented as he got out.

"Where's the fun in that?" Lex asked with a grin as I hopped off the truck to give him a greeting hug.

"Seriously," Clark told him, "You could get hurt."

"Why the sudden interest in my health?" Lex asked with a laugh.

"I met this woman at the retirement centre," Clark replied embarrassedly, "and she can kind of see the future."

"Yeah?" Lex asked him, "Did she tell you your future?"

"Not exactly," Clark replied, "She said someone very close to me would..."

"Die?" Lex asked.

"I know it sounds nuts, but when you talk to her, it's like she really knows," Clark sighed as he put the crates by the entrance for the kitchen staff to pick up.

"Come on, Clark," Lex smirked, "She knows when she has a good audience."

"You sound like Izzy," he sighed making me smirk up at him as we all started into the mansion.

"That's gotta be a first," Lex laughed, I shoved his shoulder. "I heard you lost an old man." I frowned at that.

"How'd you find out?" I asked him, practically whining as I did.

"Word gets around fast here, didn't you know that?" he grinned at me making me roll my eyes and sigh.

"Guys, I think this woman is the real deal," Clark told us as we walked into Lex's study.

"Then the question you've gotta ask yourself is... do you really wanna know the future?" Lex told him making me glance up at him in thought. That was a really good point... I don't think I'd want to know about my future.

"Don't you wish you knew how it was all gonna turn out?" Clark asked as Lex took three bottles of water from an ice bucket, tossing one to each of us.

"Life's a journey, Clark," Lex told him as I dropped into a seat by his desk, "I don't wanna go through it following a road map."

"It still wouldn't kill you to drive more slowly," Clark sighed at him as I shook my head.

"Why?" Lex asked him, "I have you as a friend. You changed my future once, right?" I smirked at that but Clark seemed uncomfortable at the subject making me get up.

"Clark I need a lift," I told him, as I got to my feet.

"Why?" he asked curiously.

"I need to go see the administrator of the retirement centre, tell him what I know about Harry," I replied, he nodded and we started to walk out. "See ya later, Lex!"

"You never told me this woman's name," Lex commented making us turn around.

"I thought you weren't interested?" I asked him with a smirk.

"Maybe I'll ask her for some stock tips," he told us sarcastically.

"Cassandra Carver," Clark told him before we turned to leave again.

"I don't think that's gonna help bring Harry back," Clark commented to Lana as I walked down the hallway of the retirement centre about an hour later.

"Clark, what are you doing here so late?" Lana asked him.

"I came to drop Izzy off, thought I'd see Cassandra if she's still up," Clark replied as I joined them, they were looking at a bulletin board with the retirement residents photo's on, along with younger photo's too.

"What happened to Harry's younger picture?" I asked curiously as I joined their sides. There was a blank space next to his older photo.

"I don't know," Lana replied as she glanced at me, "What's wrong?"

"I went to meet the administrator," I replied, "Tell him what I know about Harry. But the police were there."

"It's a missing person's case," Clark told me, "It's not unusual."

"Yeah except that's not why they're here," I told him, "Harry Bollston's real name is Harry Volk. He was a murderer."

"A murderer?" Lana asked in shock, "Why would they let someone like that stay here?"

"It happened 60 years ago, when he was 17," I replied, "They must have figured he was just a harmless old man who moved back to his hometown to die." I shrugged. "Back in the 40's he was studying to be a concert pianist. He was up for a full scholarship to the Metropolis Conservatory. But his teacher recommended somebody else."

"So he killed his teacher?" Clark asked curiously, I frowned and shook my head, my gaze firmly on Harry's photo.

"He said his teacher killed his dream, so he killed the teacher's dream," I replied, "He killed the man's son." I turned my head to Lana and Clark, both were giving me shocked looks as they thought it over.

Turning my head I glanced at Clark, "Didn't you want to go see Cassandra?" I asked him, he nodded and headed off, leaving me with Lana.

"So, how've you really been?" she asked me curiously as I moved to lean against a wall, "I mean, you haven't real been yourself since you broke up with Pete and you're not talking to me about it."

"I'm fine, Lana," I told her with a sigh, but I looked anywhere but at her.

"People don't just go back to being friends with their ex," Lana told me making me sigh and look up at her. "You're hurt Izzy, I know you are. So talk to me."

"What do you want me to say Lana?" I asked her simply, "You want me to tell you that my heart shatters every time he even looks at me? You want me to say that whenever I see him with that girl I feel like ripping her head off of her shoulder?" she gave me a sad but surprised look, "Because to be honest with you, that may be the truth, but I pride myself on being in control of my emotions and if I let go, I'm gonna end up hurting someone and I don't want that." Lana sighed as I looked down the hallway, "I'm gonna go home, just tell Clark I walked okay?" She nodded as I walked away from her, my jaw clenched as I fought off any thoughts of how I really felt.

"Are you coming to the Torch?" Clark asked me as we left our last class the next day, I turned my head and frowned slightly. "Chloe wants to see us."

"Just fill me in after," I told him, "I'm not feeling too great, I'm just gonna go home." He frowned and nodded making me offer a smile before I turned and walked away.

People seemed to leave me alone and to my thoughts as I walked through town, it wasn't unusual to see me frowning in thought lately anyway. I was passing the beanery when the strange blond guy from a few days ago stepped out, my gaze turning towards him lazily before I carried on walking. "Hey, wait, Isabelle, right?" he asked as he jogged over to me.

"People call me Izzy," I replied with a shrug, "I didn't catch your name last time."

"Harry," he grinned offering me his hand, I shrugged off the name and shook his hand. "You find that missing old man yet?"

"No, not yet," I replied with a shrug as I carried on walking again.

"Well he couldn't have gotten far right?" he smirked slightly, I turned my head frowning at the fact he was still walking along side me. "So what are you up to, right this second?"

"Going home," I replied simply.

"I couldn't interest you with a coffee?" he asked me with a smug smirk.

"No thanks," I told him as I stopped walking, "I don't do coffee with strange men." With that I walked away from him not even bothering a backwards glance towards him as I left him stood there.

"Izzy honey!" mom shouted as I walked into the house, dropping my backpack on the kitchen table as I went.

"Yeah?" I called back to her as I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.

"Lana called, said she wanted to talk to you later," she replied as she walked into the kitchen, she gave me the same look her and Lana had been giving me since the break up. "I think she's worried about you hun, we both are."

"There's nothing to be worried about," I shrugged it off, "I'm fine... I heal fast, remember?" With that I walked past her, pressing a kiss to her cheek before I headed up to my room to get changed into a pair of sweats and a fitted tank top before I headed out to the loft to throw some punches at the punch bag dad had put up there for me when he first made it for the two of us.

I was still throwing punches when Clark turned up, making me glance sideways to him before looking outside, it had gotten dark. "Hey," Clark greeted as I sat down and unwrapped my fists, "You okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" I asked him simply.

"You only beat the crap out of that thing when you're upset," he replied making me frown and look at the floor. "Chloe and Pete are coming over to tell us whatever they found out."

"I thought you were meeting at the Torch?" I asked him curiously.

"Lana was there, she found the 'Wall of Weird' and ran off when she found her photo," he replied making me sigh and nod slightly. "Izzy, you told me that it wouldn't be awkward if you and Pete broke up, that's not the feeling I'm getting lately."

"I'm fine," I told him snappily, "My only problem is people acting like I'm not." Clark sighed and nodded and I stood up and tossed the wrappings on the desk before turning at the sound of footsteps.

"Clark, we got your message," Chloe told him as she arrived, Pete right behind her.

"Hey, where were you guys?" Pete asked us, "What happened? I thought we were all supposed to meet at the Torch?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to blow you guys off," Clark sighed as I leant against the desk.

"Will the lovely Miss Lang be joining us?" Chloe asked us.

"I think she had enough weirdness for one day," Clark replied as Pete glanced at me.

"Have you been punching the bag again?" he asked me curiously, I frowned at him slightly and shrugged non-committed as my gaze caught sight of the papers under his arm.

"What've you got?" I asked him.

A guy was found dead in his house," he replied as he handed the newspaper over, "He was blindfolded and strangles with a piano wire."

"The same signature as Harry Volk in '45," I commented as I read the article.

"Sounds like a copy-cat," Clark suggested.

"A copy-cat of a murder that happened 60 years ago, two days after the original killer happened to disappear?" Chloe asked him, "I don't think so."

"Harry's in a wheel chair," I commented, "Not exactly primed to go on a crime spree."

"Well I found this picture of Harry from the 40s," she told us, handing it over, I spun it around and frowned instantly at the image I found. It was Harry, the guy from the Beanery.

"This is the kid from The Beanery," I pointed out as I grabbed a hoody and started down the stairs, pulling it on as I went.

"Maybe he's his grandson or something," Pete suggested.

"Or maybe it's Harry," I shot over my shoulder.

"I don't think we should start looking for time machines just yet," Clark sighed at me.

"Clark the old man just disappeared, and when I went back I saw this blond guy at the pond," I pointed out, "He eavesdropped on our conversation about Harry in The Beanery... and when I was walking home today I bumped into him, he said his name was Harry."

"Still," Clark told me as I turned to face them

"Fine," Chloe jumped in, "Where do you think we should start?"

"If someone is following in Harry's footsteps, maybe they send him fan mail," Clark suggested making me frown but nod in agreement.

"What happens if someone sees us searching Harry's room?" Chloe asked worriedly as we walked down the hall of the retirement centre.

"How about we don't get seen?" I suggested smoothly as I looked around.

"Clark, is that you?" I heard a voice ask making all four of us turn, it was Cassandra, she waved her hand indicating Clark to go to her.

"Look, Harry's room is down the hall," I told Clark, "We'll meet you there." He nodded and walked over as I turned and headed down the hall, Pete and Chloe following.

"When you said the blond guy introduced himself to you..." Pete questioned quietly as we entered Harry's room to search his things, "What happened?"

"What do you mean?" I asked him distractedly as I pulled an old box from under the bed.

"What did he say?" he asked me curiously, I glanced up at him before sighing.

"Nothing much," I replied. "He introduced himself and asked me to go get coffee with him. I said no and walked away."

"You said no?" Pete asked curiously.

"Why wouldn't I?" I asked him as I flipped the lid of the box and pulled out newspaper clippings, rifling through them before I handed them to Chloe who seemed to be purposely ignoring the conversation. Turning fully to Pete, I have him a pointed look.

"I just thought, you know..." he started nervously but the door opened and Clark walked in.

"You guys have any luck?" he asked us.

"No fan mail," Chloe shook her head, "Izzy found a bunch of old newspaper clippings from The Smallville Ledger... obituaries, articles." She handed them over to Clark for him to look at.

"The guy's been obsessed with Smallville for 50 years," I pointed out as I turned away from Pete who frowned at me. Clark wasn't listening, instead he was looking intently at an article Chloe had handed him. "What's wrong?"

"It's her," he commented.

"Who?" Chloe asked as she tried to look at the article.

"I gotta go," he told us before dropping the article on the bed and running out (at human speed). I frowned slightly at that, Clark usually let me in on these things.

"Why's he worried about the waitress from the Beanery?" Pete asked curiously making me turn my head towards him.

"I don't know," I replied, "But I'm gonna go find out." I turned to walk out, leaving the two of them watching me curiously as I headed to the front of the building where Cassandra was still sat.

"I was wondering when you'd come to see me, dear," she greeted as I walked towards her. "Isabelle, right?"

"Izzy," I corrected as I took a seat in front of her, "What did you say to Clark?"

"I didn't say anything," she replied, "I showed him all the people that needed his help." I frowned slightly before thinking about the article.

"Was one of them wearing a silver unicorn pendant?" I asked her curiously.

"Well... yes, I think there was..." she started making me get up to leave, "Izzy dear." I stopped and turned towards her, "Aren't you curious?"

Was I curious? I frowned and contemplated what I could possibly see. After a moment or two of hesitation, I moved to sit back down in front of her. She smiled at me and offered me her hand, which, once again after hesitating, I accepted in my own. I watched as she closed her eyes 'seeing' my future as if it was actually happening making me frown slightly. After a moment she let go of my hand.

"What did you see?" I asked her curiously.

"It'll be hard," she told me, making me frown, "But everything will be worth it when you finally meet him."

"Finally meet who?" I asked her curiously.

"Your future," she replied, I frowned slightly, "There are so many paths that I saw for you to take... but whichever one you choose, it always leads right to him. The blond man with the warm brown eyes, all dressed in green."

"Izzy?" I turned at the sound of Chloe's voice, her and Pete were giving me a curious look making me offer a weak smile before I turned back to Cassandra.

"All this pain," she told me gently, "One day, it'll be worth it... and when you come out of it, you'll be so strong." I bit my lip and smile slightly at the thought.

"Thank you Mrs Carver," I told her as I stood up, I placed a gentle hand on her shoulder before I walked away from her joining Chloe and Pete.

"What was that about?" Pete asked curiously.

"Nothing," I smiled slightly.

"Are you okay?" Chloe asked curiously.

"You know what," I turned to her, "I'm not." The two of them frowned, "But I'm okay with that... because apparently it'll be worth it." Pete frowned slightly as Chloe gave me a reading look before she smiled as if in understanding as we linked arms and headed out.

Chloe and Pete dropped me back at the farm, where Clark was already there and when I got in they explained to me what had happened with Harry and the waitress from The Beanery. I sat at the table with dad and Clark as mom talked on the phone. "Zoey's gonna be okay," she told us, "But that truck driver could have sworn he hit you." I frowned at that, turning to Clark who gave me a sheepish smile. "Don't worry... he's not asking any questions."

"Is that kid in jail?" dad asked curiously.

"No, he's in the hospital overnight for observation," mom replied.

"Does Zoey know why he was trying to kill her?" I asked her.

"She's just grateful you happened to come along," Mom replied making me glance at Clark.

"Is that what you told the police?" I smirked slightly.

"I figured they wouldn't want to hear I got a vision from an old blind lady," Clark replied dryly, I smiled at the thought of Cassandra, remembering what she'd told me.

"I'm not sure how I feel about Cassandra," mom commented, making me look up at her.

"Mom, she's my friend," Clark told her, "She told me my destiny was to help people."

"You don't think she knows you secret?" Dad asked him, Clark's expression was sheepish again making me frown. That was an obvious yes and mom and dad seemed to understand that too.

"I don't think you should see her anymore," dad told him.

"If I hadn't gone to see her, Zoey would be dead," Clark pointed out.

"Your destiny may be to protect people but ours is to protect the two of you," Dad told us, "And that's gotta come first, okay?" I bit my lip as Clark sighed before nodding.

The next morning I woke up to mom handing me the phone, on the other end was Lana telling me that Harry had been found handcuffed to the hospital bed that the young blond guy had been in the night before. With a sigh, I got out of bed and woke Clark up before we headed to the retirement centre.

"The police questioned Harry all morning," Lana told us as we walked alongside the koi pond. "He said he was kidnapped by this kid who was obsessed with his old case."

"So somehow in broad daylight, this kid got out of handcuffs, smuggled Harry into the hospital and cuffed him to a bed?" I asked sarcastically.

"That's the official story," Lana replied making me smirk slightly and shake my head.

"It may be the official story, but it's a load of bull," I commented.

"You could always add it to the Wall of Weird," Lana suggested as Clark stopped walking, looking pale. "You okay?" Lana asked him curiously.

"Not really," he replied making me turn to the water, the green glint at the bottom told me there were meteor rocks down there. "I think I'll go inside... talk to Harry."

"Well I'm gonna go home, I have chores and a paper to finish," I sighed before I tossed Lana a smile and headed off.

Later that afternoon I was still writing my paper sat in the kitchen as mom kept my cup filled with coffee as well as giving me snacks every now and again. "Honey, I'm gonna go to town for some groceries," she told me as she handed me another coffee. "You gonna be okay on your own for a little while?"

"Yeah," I nodded, "Go ahead I'll be okay." She smiled and dropped a kiss to the top of my head before grabbing her keys and going.

It was around half an hour, maybe an hour later that there was a knock on the door making me frown before I dropped my things and headed to the front. "Can I help you?" I asked as I answered it, not paying attention to whoever it was.

"Yeah I got a report about a gas leak," came the reply making me tense, "You, uh, mind if I come in?"

"Gas leak?" I asked as I looked up, it was young blond Harry, "I don't smell gas."

"Your father called about it earlier," he told me, "Is... is he around?"

"He's out in town," I replied, "He'll be back soon." The guy nodded, "Where's our usual gas man, Derek?"

"He's on holiday," he told me, "I'm filling in for him."

"Right," I nodded, "Yeah, I remember he mentioned it. Can you excuse me for a sec, I'll call dad, see when he'll be back." Harry nodded and I strained a smile before snapping the door shut, heading inside to grab the phone.

There was no dialling tone when I checked it making me bite at my tongue, before I decided that I should probably make a run for it instead of fighting. "Your gas man's name isn't Derek, is it?" a voice asked behind me making me turn, Harry was stood there glaring at me making me chew on my tongue slightly and back off.

"What do you want?" I asked him as I put the table between us.

"Your grandfather ruined my dream," he told me, "I came here ruin his by killing your dad... but I think you'll do nicely." He lunged at me making me dodge around him, grabbing the coffee cup from the table before smashing it over his head and running out of the back door.

"Shit, shit, shit," I muttered as I ran to the barn, it was like my brain had gone blank and I forgot all about my powers.

"You can't hide from me forever!" Harry bellowed as I slinked through the barn, exiting on the other side as he came in the way I had. Biting my lip, I turned towards the grain silo, he couldn't see me if I went there. So dashing over, I slunk into the silo through the door, trying to calm my breath down as I did.

Putting my back to the side, I took a breath and bit at my lip to keep myself quiet, I could hear his footsteps outside, "Marco..." he called making me tense and close my eyes before I forced myself to open them again. He dove through the door making me yelp and back off as he came towards me. "Tut, tut, tut..." he smirked at me before lunging again, he'd grabbed a knife from the kitchen and it sliced through my arm as I dodged around him, running for the door.

"Ah, ah, ah," he told me, lunging and getting there first, pulling it shut.

"You don't have to do this," I told him as I backed away, my gaze catching sight of the chain that released the grain. "You're young again, you can have a second chance."

"Maybe I can, but your grandfather is not living through you," he told me simply, he lunged again grabbing a hold of me before I could dodge this time. He knocked me backwards, but I just had time to grab the chain, starting the grain as we both fell to the floor.

The pressure of the grain on us grew slowly as we grabbled and wrestled on the floor, me doing everything to keep the knife in his hand away from me. I failed at that a few times, hissing as the knife dug into my arm and stomach a few times... I managed to scramble away from him when the grain reached my neck but the pressure on my chest from it was too much and I could feel myself slipping away...

"Izzy! Izzy!"

I could feel myself slipping back into consciousness as someone pressed on my chest for CPR. With a small groan I let my eyes flicker open before I rolled over and coughed because of lack of air. "Izzy," three voices gasped in relief making me turn my head to see mom, dad and Clark crying as mom pulled me into her arms.

"You're okay, oh my god, you're okay," she muttered into my hair as I looked around, I was still in the grain silo, but they'd dug me out. My gaze landed on an arm protruding from the grain a little way away, it was old... and it was still.

"Cassandra was wrong, Clark," Dad told him as I climbed out of the silo, stumbling on my feet slightly. "No one's gonna die."

**AN: I really struggled with this one, let me know what you think?**


	7. 07 Craving

"So I was thinking... Lana's birthday party," A voice commented as I walked through the hallway towards the main doors to leave for lunch, I turned my head to see Jamie who smiled at me sheepishly. "You got a date yet?"

"Nope," I replied simply as I moved so I was walking backwards in front of him, an amused smirk on my lips.

"How about you go with me?" he suggested making me frown in fake thought as I drifted my gaze over him.

"I'll get back to you," I told him with a small smirk before I turned and walked out of the doors and down the steps, my gaze caught sight of Chloe and Pete talking to Jody Melville. "Hey guys!" The three of them turned to me, "Hey Jody, how've you been?"

"Good, thanks Izzy," she smiled at me sweetly.

"So are we on for lunch?" I asked the three of them, they nodded together but my gaze landed on the green gloop that Jody was drinking. "Or are you all set with the green shake thing?"

"Losing weight is never pretty," she commented to me with a shrug, I arched an eyebrow at the drink before shrugging it off in agreement.

"Hey, Ross," A voice called making me turn in curiosity my gaze landing on Dustin, "We're getting a little game together. You want in," he glanced at Jody, "or you want to keep whale watching?" He and his friend started laughing as I glared darkly at them.

"Back off Dustin," Pete snapped at him angrily making me glance at him, smiling slightly.

"Ooh, chill out, cool guy," Dustin laughed, "I didn't know you were chubby chasing... especially after you got with Izzy." I crossed my arms in front of my chest and narrowed my eyes. Okay, so yes there was a big difference between Jody and me, I lived on a farm and did daily chores of lifting heavy hay bales...

Dustin dribbled the basketball before tossing it at Jody, knocking her drink all over her and Chloe. Pete caught the ball as Dustin laughed making Jody rush off. "Jody, wait!" Pete shouted after her, he tossed the ball to me before he took off after her.

"Oh, you'd think someone that big would have thinker skin," Dustin laughed making me growl before I threw the ball at him, hitting him square in the face.

"You'd think someone that stupid would have a thicker head," Chloe snapped at him before the two of us rushed to follow Pete and Jody.

"Now, I want this to be special," I heard Nell saying as I walked towards Lana's house after school that day, she was in the living room with another woman, holding a binder. "What do you think about a three tier birthday cake?"

"Three-tier sounds good Nell," I smiled at her as I passed.

"Thanks Izzy," she smiled at me making me grin at her widely, "Lana's through there with your brother."

"Thanks Nell," I nodded as I passed her, "Hey Lana, you ready to go?"

"Yeah," she nodded, "Thanks for the lifeline, Clark."

"It's a math midterm, not like I pulled you out of a burning building." He shrugged it off.

"I still appreciate it," she smiled at him as she pulled her coat on.

"Lana, I just wanted to get your opinion on the balloons," Nell called over, Lana glanced at me making me turn around to Nell.

"White's always good," I told her honestly.

"Works for me," Lana smiled hesitantly, Nell smiled back and headed back out of the room. "This whole birthday extravaganza has been pretty distracting."

"Having a birthday party at Lex's mansion seems pretty cool to me," Clark smirked as we headed out to the porch.

"It stopped being my party a long time ago," Lana told us, "If it was up to me, it would be pizza and loud music with my friends."

"Wow, fifteen years with Izzy has really affected you, huh?" Clark smirked making me grin widely at him before I looked at Lana.

"Did you tell Nell you wanted it low key?" I asked her curiously.

"We've been through a lot in the past few months," she shrugged, "I figure I should give her this one." I frowned slightly at that but my gaze landed on Whitney's silver truck pulling up as he jumped out.

"Lana, Izzy, guess what?" he grinned at us.

"The scout called?" I asked him excitedly.

He nodded as he grabbed Lana into a hug before pulling me into one, "I just heard – I got the tryout with Kansas State!" He told us.

"That's incredible," Lana told him with a wide grin.

"Hey congrats," Clark smiled at him, but he sounded kinda dejected, Whitney nodded at him before looking back to Lana.

"I haven't said yes yet," Whitney told her, "They want me there on Saturday, but that's your big night."

"It's Nell's big night," Lana told him with a shrug, "I was just telling these two it wasn't important."

"Yeah," I nodded.

"Scouts honour," Clark added.

"I want you to go," Lana told him, Whitney smiled before kissing her.

"Hey, I'll catch up with you guys later," Clark told us as he started off.

"Yeah, actually... I think we can rain check," I smiled at Lana as I started to back away.

"But I thought you wanted to tell me something," she asked me curiously.

"It can wait, just some advice on who I should go to your party with," I shrugged it off as I glanced sideways to Whitney.

"Wait, are you going with?" Lana called.

"Jamie asked me," I shrugged, "Needed some girl talk to think it over. I'll catch you later though." She nodded with a confused look on her face making me grin at her before I jogged after Clark.

"Football scholarship?" he asked me with a sigh as I walked along beside him, headed for the farm.

"Yeah," I nodded, "It's a good thing though, for the both of you."

"How is Whitney getting a scholarship to Kansas State, be good for me?" he asked curiously.

"Lana's gonna be dateless for her own party," I grinned at him before picking up the pace.

"Clark, Izzy's right, this is good news for you," Pete grinned as we walked though the quad at lunch the next day.

"Kansas State gives Whitney a full scholarship and Lana gives him a tongue bath," Clark frowned at the two of us, "How is that good news?"

"Even I'm having a hard time following the skewed logic to this," Chloe told us with a frown.

"Like I said," I smirked as I turned to walk backwards in front of them, "Lana's gonna be dateless to her own party."

"Hi Pete," A familiar voice suddenly called, making us all turn towards the picnic benches. I suppressed a frown as Jody got up from the bench, looking a lot thinner than the day before.

"Jody?" Pete asked in shock as he walked over to her, we followed curiously.

"You look..." Chloe started.

"Thinner?" she asked us all with a small smile.

"I was looking for a euphemism, but yeah," Chloe nodded.

"Are you okay?" I asked her curiously.

"Never better," she replied with a smile, "My diet's just starting to pay off. I bought some new clothes."

"You look great," Pete told her, making me glance sideways at him, he had a love struck grin on his face making me suppress another frown.

"Thank you for sticking up for me yesterday," Jody told him, looking at him shyly yet flirtatiously, "Most people wouldn't have done that."

"Most people can't stand Dustin," Pete shrugged it off.

"Yeah," Jody laughed nervously, "Listen... I was wondering – do you have a date for Lana's party?"

"Uh," Pete started, glancing sideways at me, I looked away from him.

"No, he's still free," Clark told Jody on his behalf as Chloe sent me a curious look.

"Would you like to go with me?" Jody persisted hopefully, Pete took a deep breath, smiling stupidly making me bite at my tongue.

"He'd love to," Clark answered again.

"Great," Jody smiled widely, sending me a worried look. "Okay, well, I'll see you later."

"Bye," Pete smiled slightly, she nodded and walked away, my gaze following Pete as he turned to watch her walk past.

"I don't get it," I commented simply.

"Women dig me," Pete turned towards me, a slight glare on his face making me arch a challenging eyebrow, "Get used to it."

"Uh huh," I sneered, "Not what I meant." I turned to Chloe, "It's like she lost that weight overnight."

"If she could, half the school would be after that secret," Clark commented making me shrug in agreement.

"Oh well," I sighed as my gaze landed on Jamie who was talking to Whitney, probably about the scholarship. "I'm gonna leave you guys hanging, I need to go get a date for Lana's party."

"Like it's that easy," Chloe smirked at me so I grinned at her with a wink before I headed towards Jamie and Whitney. I could feel them watching me as I walked away from them.

"Hey guys," I smiled in greeting, making the two of them turn towards me.

"Hey Izzy," they greeted together with grins.

"So Jamie, can I talk to you?" I asked him, he glanced at Whitney who grinned before he nodded and followed me away from him.

"What's up?" he asked curiously.

"I was just wondering if your invitation still stands," I asked curiously, he smirked slightly as he tilted his head to the side.

"And if it does?" he asked.

"And if it does," I smirked, "Maybe I'd take you up on it." His smirk widened making me bite at my lip, "Well?"

"Well, looks like I have a date to Lana's birthday," he told me making me blush slightly, "You don't know how much I wanted you to say yes."

"So I'll see you later?" I asked him curiously.

"Definitely," he nodded, I hesitated before moving to leave, but as I turned he took my wrist and turned me back around. My questioning gaze landed on him, but before I could say anything, he leant in and pressed his lips against mine in a sweet, tender kiss. "I'll see you later."

A small smile tugged at my lips as I felt my cheeks heat up, another smirk crossed his face as I backed away making me blush more before I turned and walked back over to Chloe, Clark and Pete. The latter was frowning slightly, but the former was giving me a look of disbelief.

"That's how easy it is?" Chloe laughed as she linked her arm through mine.

"That's how easy it is," I confirmed as we headed back towards the school so we could head into the Torch.

"So, what about Pete?" she asked quietly, making me turn my head to see Clark and Pete, talking quietly. "I mean, is that it? You're over it that fast?"

"He seems to be," I shrugged, "I mean if he wasn't he wouldn't be dating a different girl every weekend, right?"

"Maybe he's just trying to make you jealous?" she suggested with a shrug.

"And maybe it worked," I frowned.

"So, you and Jamie?" she insisted.

"Jamie asked me out and he's cute." I replied, "I figured if Pete's going with Jody, I may as well go with Jamie."

"So, is he a better kisser than Pete?" she smirked at me, I rolled my eyes at her as I suppressed a smirk of my own.

"I don't know," I shrugged, "It's kind of hard to tell from one kiss." Chloe giggled slightly at that making me grin at her before joining her.

"Hey Izzy," Chloe waved as I walked out of the house the next morning, she was walking towards her car from the Loft with Clark.

"Hey Chloe," I smiled at her, "Why're you here so early?"

"Big story she told me, I needed your family pull to get into Animal Control," she replied making me arch an eyebrow at her. "You guys do know people at animal control, right?"

"One of the perks of growing up on a farm," I shrugged in answer.

"Well, I was thinking that maybe we could stop by there before school?" she asked us. "You could use your pull. We could take a couple of pictures. I'll help Clark out with his gift-giving dilemma."

"Okay," Clark nodded, "But I want it to be something unique."

"Just don't make it as unique as what you gave me last year," Chloe commented.

"Or what you gave me for Christmas," I smirked at him, making him roll his eyes at me.

Half an hour later we were walking through the halls of Animal Control, "Very impressive use of pull," Chloe laughed, "Can I use your bathroom?"

"Yeah well," I smirked with a shrug, "Worked didn't it?" She laughed slightly and shoved me.

"I can't believe we're creeping around looking for road kill," Clark sighed at us.

"The deer's in there," Chloe told us, nodding to a room beside us before she tried the doorknob. "The door is locked. Um, I'm gonna go find a maintenance worker." I nodded as she walked away before I turned to Clark who reached out and opened the door with ease.

"Chloe, it's open," I called down to her.

"How'd...?" she started to ask.

"Kent charm," I shrugged with a smirk before I walked into the room my gaze landing on the gurney with something on it, covered by a sheet.

"Lift it up," Chloe smirked at Clark who frowned before reaching out and doing just that. I let out a groan as my gaze landed on the dead deer.

"Looks like jerky," Clark complained as Chloe took photos, I moved away from it, picking up a file of lab reports.

"Says the deer lost something like 80% of its body fat," I commented as I flipped through it. "It's like it's been liposuctioned to death."

"What do you think it is," Clark asked, "some sort of fat-sucking vampire in town?"

"This is Smallville," Chloe shrugged, "Land of the weird, home of the strange." Biting my lip, I suppressed a frown of thought.

"C'mon, we're gonna be late," I commented before I turned to walk back out of the room.

"So, what can I expect tomorrow night?" Jamie asked as he wrapped his arms around my waist making me turn my head and smirk at him.

"What do you mean?" I asked him teasingly.

"C'mon Iz, describe your dress to me," he smirked as he burrowed his face into my neck making me blush slightly.

"It's a surprise," I told him as I pulled away slightly.

"Well, are you coming to lunch?" he asked me curiously.

"I can't," I told him, "I told Chloe I'd help her out in the Torch." He frowned but sighed with a nod making me smile up at him.

"Kiss me before you go?" he asked curiously making me turn around in his hold, my arms looping around his neck.

"Why're you acting like you're gonna miss me?" I asked him with a smirk, he shrugged and smirked back.

"Maybe I will," he told me before leaning in, his lips brushed against mine before pulling back making me bite at my lower lip. "But if you're not gonna miss me..."

"Oh shut up," I muttered before moving on to my tiptoes pressing my lips, hard against his.

"Well, from one footballer to another, huh?" A familiar voice asked from behind me making me pull away from Jamie before turning to face Lex who was stood with a smirk.

"Lex," I greeted in surprise, "What are you doing here?"

"I had a meeting with your principle," he replied with a charming grin but his gaze moved to Jamie whose arms were still around my waist.

"I'll uh, see you later," Jamie muttered to me before he pulled his arms away from me, I smiled up at him as he backed off and walked away.

"Between you, Clark and my dad I'm surprised guys even ask me out," I sighed as I turned back to Lex, he was grinning in amusement.

"Yeah well, looking after your virtue may get me in your dad's good books for once," he shrugged, "Walk me to my car?"

"Sure," I nodded before falling into step with him, "How's the Lana-bonanza coming along?"

"I made an informed decision to keep my nose out of it," he replied, "I gave Lana and Nell free reign..."

"And Lana gave it all to Nell," I smirked as I glanced up at him, "I'm not sure your mansion's going to survive it."

"I have something for you, by the way," he told me as we stopped at his car, I frowned in curiosity.

"What is it?" I asked him.

"It's a surprise," he grinned, "Come by the mansion later?" I nodded and he pulled me into a hug, pressing a kiss to my temple before he got in the car, waved and drove off.

"Rain check?" a voice asked from behind me, making me turn to see Chloe smirking at me.

"No, I was on my way in," I replied, "Bumped into Lex, walked with him to his car." She gave me a curious look before nodding, turning to go back inside with me right behind her. "So what stories do you for me today then?"

"Actually this isn't about the paper," she told me, making me turn my head to her in confusion. "This is about you and Pete."

"There is no me and Pete, Chloe," I told her simply as we walked into the Torch office.

"Except there is," she replied, "Jamie asked you out, but you never gave him an answer until _after_ you knew Pete was going with Jody." I frowned at that as I dropped into the seat at my computer. "Pete didn't answer Jody when she asked if he was going with someone, he looked at you and Clark answered for him."

"What are you getting at?" I asked her seriously.

"It doesn't take a genius to notice that you guys are still into each other," she replied simply. I turned my head towards where she was still stood, her 'I'm an investigative reporter' look on her face. "My question to you is: if you know he's still into you, why are you two playing this game?"

"You can't be in a relationship with one of your best friends," I replied, "Especially if you know you can't trust each other."

"Why can't you trust each other?" she asked curiously, finally dropping into a chair beside me. "You guys have known each other your whole lives, what don't you know about each other?"

"Nothing, there's just..." I sighed and trailed off, "When we were together, I could see that every guy I talked to, Pete thought I was cheating on him. And to be honest, every girl he talked to, I was thinking the same thing."

"Even with Lana and me?" she asked tentatively.

"A girl's mind works differently when she's in a relationship," I answered. Rushing feet past the office had us both turning around in curiosity before Chloe grabbed the camera and we both took off after the crowd.

"What's going on?" I asked a randomer as we joined the crowd surrounding someone getting put in an ambulance.

"Looks like Dustin just got liposuctioned to near death," was the reply making me shove through the crowd, Chloe right behind me before we joined Clark and Pete at the front.

"Izzy, come on in," Lex greeted as I walked into his office after school, curiosity etched on to my face.

"So what is it?" I asked him curiously, he smirked and nodded over to one of the many leather sofas. There was a pale blue box on it making me frown at him before I walked over.

"Go ahead," he grinned as he walked over to me, I dropped down next to it before pulling the lid off. Inside was a gorgeous forest green and black dress making me look up at Lex in shock before I pulled it out of the box to see it properly. It had a black, strapless, form-fitting bodice with intricate green leaves flowing across the chest, then it flowed loosely in forest green from the waist to just past mid thigh.

"Wow, Lex... I..." I started as I looked up at him in shock. "Wh...?"

"You like it?" he asked me with an amused smile, I bit my lip and nodded.

"But this looks, really expensive..." I started.

"I always wanted a little sister to buy things for," he interrupted me, "And I figured you needed a beautiful dress like this to wear to your best friend's birthday."

"Lex..." I started.

"I'm not taking no for an answer," he replied making me bite at my lip, "Plus I didn't know your size so..."

I put the dress back in the box before flying at him, wrapping my arms around him in a hug making him laugh slightly. "It's beautiful, thank you." I told him softly as I pulled away from him, he just shrugged it off before getting up and walking to his desk, grabbing a box from there too. "Lex..."

"What's a dress without shoes and accessories?" he smirked at me, I blushed slightly before grinning and shaking my head.

"So I called the hospital this morning," I told Chloe as she walked beside me and Jamie towards the cafeteria. "Dustin's in a coma. His body went into shock from loss of fat. He hasn't told the police anything."

"I'll leave you guys to your reporter talk," Jamie told me, pressing a kiss to my cheek before walking off to join the jocks.

"So I think it's time to revisit the fat-sucking vampire theory," Clark commented as he joined our side.

"You know, if you hadn't been there, he probably would have died," Chloe told him.

"What I can't figure out is why anybody would want to steal body fat," Clark commented to us.

"It takes eating disorders to a whole new level," I added as we dropped into seats at Jody's table. "Hi Jody."

"Hi guys," she replied, "What's up?" She asked through a mouth full of food, my gaze taking in the mountain of food in front of her.

"Study group, remember?" Chloe asked her.

"Totally slipped my mind," she replied honestly, still eating.

"So no more veggie shakes, huh?" I asked her curiously. She looked up at us in surprise, mostly Clark.

"Are you feeling okay?" he asked her, "Pete said you felt sick yesterday."

"Oh that," she laughed, "I'm fully recovered."

"I guess it's safe to say that the diet's finally over?" Chloe asked her cautiously.

"Mm, I'm starving," she replied, "I haven't eaten anything all day." I arched an eyebrow as Chloe and Clark carried on staring too. "I'm just a little nervous about the party tonight."

"Right, yeah, of course," I nodded as I pushed my food around my tray. Clark on the other hand carried on staring.

"So, um, I'll see you guys tonight," Jody muttered before grabbing some of the snacks from the table and rushing off.

"Okay, what was that about?" Chloe asked in shock.

"I don't know," Clark replied, "I gotta fly. We'll talk about it later?"

"Okay," Chloe nodded.

"Where're you going?" I asked curiously.

"I'm still working on Lana's birthday gift," he replied.

"Any hints?" Chloe grinned.

"Yeah, it's not a gift certificate," he replied before heading off, I chuckled before grabbing some of the cookies Jody left behind.

"So, you got your dress yet?" I asked Chloe, she nodded. "Gonna tell me what it looks like?" She shook her head making me laugh and shake my head. "Fine, you don't get a preview of mine either then."

"Izzy! Jamie's here!" Mom shouted as I pulled on the sparkly silver heels that Lex bought me.

"Just a second!" I shouted back down before straightening up and moving to stand in front of my mirror. Somehow Lex had gotten the sizes perfect. With a small sigh, I smoothed out the skirt, patted at my hair, which was curled over my shoulder in a pony tail with a sparkly silver and green leaf clip, and grabbed my clutch bag before heading out of my room.

"Izzy!" mom called again as I took my first steps down the stairs, "Oh wow." I chewed on my lip awkwardly at the sight of mom, dad, Clark and Jamie all giving me wide eyed looks.

"You look..." Jamie started as I reached the bottom of the stairs, "uh..." I smiled slightly at that.

"You look beautiful, honey," dad told me making me look up at him with a bright smile.

"We should get going," Jamie said after a moment making me turn to him and nod before I took his hand in mine and let him guide me out of the house and to his car.

The party was, amazing, but I could see that Lana was upset as I danced with Jamie. Whitney wasn't here which she expected, but neither was Clark, Chloe or Pete. "Hey, I'm gonna go talk to Lana," I told Jamie as we walked off the dance floor, he glanced over at her before nodding.

"Sure, I'll be with the guys," he told me, pressing a kiss to my cheek before walking off. I bit my lip before walking over to her.

"Hey," she gave me a bright, but obviously fake, smile making me give her a weak one back.

"Come on," I told her, taking her arm in mine before guiding her out of the party and on to the balcony. "He'll be here... he was so excited about this Lana."

"It's just a birthday," she shrugged, "I haven't really been lucky with those over the years." I bit my lip and thought it over.

"Remember the drive in?" I asked her softly, she turned her head and smiled properly at that. "With your mom and dad."

"Dad pulled the car up to the front row so that the screen filled up the entire windshield," she replied, "I remember we felt so grown up because we got to sit in the front seat with them."

"They played Bugs Bunny cartoons before the movie started," I smiled widely, I could see tears glimmering in her eyes, but I could feel tears in my own, "You got cold, so your mom wrapped her sweater around you."

"We fell asleep before the movie even started," she laughed slightly.

"Best birthday ever?" I asked her.

"Last year was a close second," she replied making me smile at her, "I never thanked you for that."

"It's nothing Lana," I shrugged at her.

"You kicked Nell out of the house," she laughed.

"Pizza, soda and Johnny Depp," I laughed, "Curled up in front of the fire just me and you."

"That's why you're my best friend, you know," she told me, "Sometimes you disappear, and sometimes we let each other down. But when I really need you, you're right there. It only takes a phone call... and sometimes it doesn't even take that, you just turn up like you can feel that I'm upset."

"Yeah well, what are sisters for?" I asked her with a grin, she laughed at that and pulled me into a hug. We were still stood hugging when Lex walked out to us.

"Sneaking out, huh? It's this, your shindig?" he asked as he joined us.

"Says so on all the invitations," Lana replied with a sigh, her arm still linked through mine as we leant on the rail of the balcony.

"Right, you're not hiding, you're getting some air," Lex nodded, getting it. "I spent 18 long years of Luthor Christmas parties in the coatroom." I bit back a smirk at that.

"I'm still waiting for my other reinforcements," Lana explained.

"I know Clark," Lex told her, "He'll be here. If he can."

"It's just a birthday," Lana shook her head, repeating what she said to me. Lex smiled at her, nodding to me before heading back inside. Once he was gone, I pulled her into another hug, knowing just how upset she really was.

Later that night, after Jamie had dropped me off, I headed into the house to find Clark stood in the living room, mom and dad sat on the sofa by the fireplace. "What happened?" I asked him angrily.

"Izzy, I can explain," he told me quickly, mom and dad giving me a 'let him talk' look. I bit at my tongue, glaring darkly at him.

"You can explain after you make it up to Lana," I told him coldly before I turned to head up the stairs. Turning on my heel half way up, I looked down at him, "Maybe you should go give her your present."

"Now?" he asked in surprise, I arched a challenging eyebrow and he nodded. "Yeah, okay. Thanks." I forced a smile, still angry at him before I headed up stairs to change.

**AN: So I struggled with this one, let me know what you think?**


	8. 08 Jitters

"No parties, no boys over, no staying out past curfew..." dad listed as he stood by my feet. I was lying under the truck, fixing something underneath it.

"Ouch!" I hissed as I slit my thumb open, "Son of a..." I slid out from under the truck, putting my thumb into my mouth to clean it before it healed itself.

"Did you hear me?" dad asked me, I looked up at him.

"Of course I heard you," I told him, "Dad I'm not gonna destroy the house, get arrested or get pregnant, don't worry." He gave me a stern look making me smile at him before I turned to face the house, "CLARK! LITTLE HELP OUT HERE!"

He walked out, mom following him, "What's up?" he asked curiously.

"I need a lift," I told him as I lay back down on the floor, he nodded and picked up the back end of the truck. "Thanks."

"The truck picked one heck of a day to snap and exhaust hanger," Dad sighed as I took the wrench from him to finish up.

"Okay, I left the number of our hotel on the nightstand," mom told us, "I think that's everything."

"That ought to do it," I muttered as I slid back out, I nodded to Clark who put the truck back down.

"I'm definitely raising your allowances," Dad told us making me grin widely before I swiped Clark's pizza slice.

"If you need anything..." mom carried on.

"Call," We finished together.

"Mom, it's a couple of nights in Metropolis," Clark sighed, "We'll be fine."

"I'm sure they'll be fine," Dad told mom, "And soon, madam, so shall we be."

"Oh, I almost forgot," Clark muttered, "Sorry." He pulled out the card we'd bought them from his pocket making me frown at him before I turned to mom and dad.

"Happy anniversary," I smiled at the two of them as I hugged them.

"Thanks," Mom smiled at the two of us, "Bye-bye."

"Thanks for the card," Dad smiled at us, before moving to get in to the truck, "Think fast!" With that he tossed a rag at me making me catch it with a laugh.

Clark and I stood side by side as they drove off before we swapped a look and a grin, "Grab your stuff before we miss the bus," I told him as I walked back inside, grabbing my bag from near the door.

"What are you gonna do now that you're officially home alone?" Pete asked as we walked towards the bus stop around fifteen minutes later.

"We were thinking of having a few people over," Clark replied as I smirked slightly.

"Do my ears deceive me or is Clark Kent actually suggesting a party?" Chloe asked in shock, I looked up at her. "Oh, right of course. It was Izzy's idea."

"A small gathering," I shrugged, "You guys, a few other people, maybe Lana." I glanced at Clark who blushed slightly.

"With or without her possible action-figure boyfriend?" Chloe asked with a smirk, she glanced at Clark who looked at me.

"8 o'clock," I told her, "And the key word is 'small'."

"Small?" she asked me with a grin making me grin back.

So it didn't turn out to be small... that night I sat on the sofa making out with Jamie as Clark ran about the house trying to prevent people from breaking things. "So this is what you call a small gathering, right?" Chloe's voice shouted over the music making me pull away from Jamie who just moved his lips to my neck instead.

"Do you even recognise half these people?" Clark asked me as I turned my head towards them, I glanced around and shrugged. "Hey, watch the glass!" I smirked at the sound of shattering glass. Clark groaned and headed off to fuss again leaving me to pull away from Jamie only to lock my lips on his again.

"Hey," Jamie muttered as he pulled away slightly, "We should go somewhere quieter." I smirked and nodded as I kissed him again, pulling away slowly as I stood up, took his hand, pulling him along with me as I grabbed two beers and led him out of the house.

"Izzy?" Pete's voice called as I left, but I barely heard him.

"Where're we going?" Jamie asked curiously, I grinned and nodded towards the barn.

We ended up on the sofa in the loft, making out as we lay across it. "I think maybe we should take this to the next level," Jamie muttered into my neck as his hand slipped under my shirt. I bit my lip, arching against him as he bucked his hips into mine, letting me feel just how turned on he was. "Izzy?"

"Mmm," I muttered biting back a moan as he nipped at my collar. Tugging at his shirt, I pulled away and locked my gaze with his making him smile down at me before pulling his shirt over his head leaning back in to smash his lips against mine.

"Lana, what's going on?" I heard Whitney's familiar voice asked from down stairs.

"I told you when we got back together that I needed some breathing room," Lana's voice replied as I pulled my lips away from his.

"Izzy," he muttered, trying to catch my lips with his again.

"Shh," I muttered with a smirk, he gave me a look before turning to glance at the stairs before he turned and pressed his lips to my collar again, I let out a small gasp as my eyes flickered shut.

"So you sneak off to a party without me?" Whitney's voice asked angrily making me shake myself to concentrate on their argument, biting my lip as Jamie pushed my shirt up, pulling me to sit up as he pulled it over my head before he locked his lips on mine again.

"I didn't sneak," Lana snapped at him, "And why are you mad at me? Is it because it's Clark's party? I'm starting to get the feeling you don't trust me."

I gasped as the loft started to rattle around us making Jamie sit up and scramble off of me, "What's that?" He asked as he backed off, I sat up and pulled my shirt back on, following him down the stairs as I fixed it.

"Izzy?" Lana asked in shock as she took in Jamie's shirtless-ness and my general ruffled-ness.

"Was that you guys rattling the loft?" Whitney asked with a grin, I rolled my eyes at him as I fought back a blush.

"No," Jamie replied, "there's something up there."

"Lana, go get Clark," I told her making her nod okay before she ran off to the house.

"What exactly did we walk in on here?" Whitney asked as I glared at Jamie who was smirking. "Oh." Whitney sent us a grin.

"Shut up," I grumbled at him as Clark walked into the barn with Lana and Chloe. The latter giving Jamie a surprised look since he still hadn't put his shirt back on, Clark glaring at him for the same reason.

"Kent, get up here," Whitney called, he turned on a flashlight and headed up, Jamie following as I sent him a look.

"What the hell did we walk in on?" Lana hissed at me when the guys were far enough away from us. I grimaced at her in answer making her give me a 'are you serious' look.

"Earl!" Clark's greeted in shock, making me turn and bolt up the stairs to them. "Hey back off! I know him."

"Earl, what are you..." I hesitated when I saw him, "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see your dad," he replied, "He's the only one I can trust."

"He's out of town," Clark replied.

"What's wrong, Earl?" I asked curiously as I reached out for him, Earl started to shake violently as Clark joined me closer to him, making me glance at him in surprise as the veins in his hand bulged and turned green. "Call an ambulance."

"This guy should be in a detox centre," Chloe commented as we stood in the waiting are of the hospital a while later.

"He's not on drugs, Chloe," Clark told her.

"Then why was he shaking like a junkie?" Chloe asked us.

"Earl worked on the farm for six seasons," I told her, "We spent 12 hours a day with the guy out in the fields. He even tried to teach Clark how to play guitar..."

"Said it was a good way to impress women," Clark added.

"We're all a sucker for a guy with a 6-string," Chloe smirked, "How come I never heard you play?"

"Cause he sucks," I replied with a grin.

"I kept snapping the guitar strings," Clark told her, "I think Earl got sick of replacing them."

"You know, just because you spend a lot of time with someone, doesn't mean you know their darkest secrets," Chloe commented to us.

"He was like family," I sighed.

"Then why did he leave?" Chloe asked us.

"He took a job in the LuthorCorp plant," I replied, "It was full time and the pay was better." My gaze turned as two cops entered.

"Where can we find Earl Jenkins?" one asked making me turn completely.

"Exam room 3," the nurse replied, "Down the hall."

"Excuse me," I called over, "We're friends of Earl's. Is he in some kind of trouble?"

"Oh yeah," the second cop told us as screaming sounded from down the hall.

"We need some help in here!" someone shouted making us all run down the hall, getting there in time to see someone get thrown against a shelf.

"What the hell?" one of the cops asked as he ran over, trying to stop a shaking Earl, only to be thrown across the room.

"Earl!" I yelped as Clark and I ran forward, Clark tried to stop him shaking, only to be thrown backwards making me gasp and rush over to him.

"Clark, are you okay?" I asked him as he sat up, giving me a shocked look.

"Hi, you're home early," I heard Clark greet in shock as I walked through the front door, mom and dad were stood at the bottom of the stairs making me grimace.

"We called six times last night," mom told us as she noticed I was there, "spoke with six different people, none of whom knew who either of you were."

"No, that's a lie actually," Dad commented, "There was that one guy who said something along the lines of 'Izzy's busy in the hay loft with her boyfriend right now'."

"It was supposed to be an intimate occasion," Clark defended as I avoided dad's gaze.

"Where have you two been?" dad asked us, glaring in my direction.

"The hospital," I replied.

"That's it," Mom started, "I'm never leaving home again."

"Who got hurt?" Dad asked me angrily.

"Nobody," Clark replied, "But we found Earl Jenkins hiding in the loft. He was looking for you, dad. He's all messed up."

"What's the matter with Earl?" Dad asked in shock.

"We don't know," I replied, "But he's wanted for murder."

"Earl?" Dad asked in shock, we nodded. "What did he have to say for himself?"

"We couldn't get close," I replied.

"How come, the police?" dad asked.

"No," Clark replied, "Because when I got near him, I got sick. It was weird. I mean, every time I stood next to him, it got worse. It's kind of like..."

"Like what?" Mom asked.

"Kind of like the way I feel around meteor fragments," Clark replied. Dad and Clark left for the hospital a few minutes later, dad muttering something to mom before they left. Biting my lip, I turned to head up the stairs.

"Isabelle," Mom called warningly, making me stop dead half way up the stairs. "Would you like to explain what this friend of yours meant about you being 'busy' with Jamie?"

"Mom, it's nothing," I replied as I turned around.

"Really?" she asked, I nodded and she turned to the kitchen, grabbing a familiar shirt from the worktop. "Your dad found this in the loft... and those marks on your neck and collar doesn't make me think it was nothing."

"We were..." I started before biting my lip, "I was..."

"Did you sleep with him?" mom asked me making me bite my lip and shake my head. "Sweetheart?"

"I was going to," I replied honestly as I walked back down the stairs and sat on a chair at the table. I chewed on my lip nervously as mom gave me a look, "I uh... Whitney and Lana came into the barn and then Earl started to shake the loft so we stopped. We didn't go that far..." She nodded in understanding. "I get that you're disappointed in me, mom..."

"I'm not," she replied making me look up at her in shock. "If you're ready, then you're ready. Just... be careful, and I suggest you don't flaunt it in front of your father."

"So your mom didn't freak?" Jamie asked as he draped his arm around my shoulders.

"No," I replied, "She surprised me though. I mean, I thought I was gonna be grounded for the rest of my life." He chuckled slightly and pulled me into his side as we stopped with the rest of the group by the metal gates in front of LuthorCorp ready for our field trip.

"Hello everybody, I'm Gabe Sullivan, plant manager and proud father," Chloe's dad greeted us all, "Hi, sweetheart."

"Hi dad," she greeted back before stepping behind Clark.

"Welcome to LuthorCorp, where we give a crap," Gabe joked making me roll my eyes as I glanced sideways at Chloe.

"Kill me now," she muttered to me making me chuckle before I leant into Jamie's side.

"A little fertiliser humour there," Gabe chuckled, "All right, before we go inside, I need you to remove all your cell phones, pagers, jewellery. Anything that jangles, dangles or rings needs to go in these plastic trays right here." I pulled my phone out of my pocket before unclipping my bracelet and necklace, dropping them into a passing tray. "All right, any other questions?" Clark raised his hand, "Yes?"

"I heard there was a third level to the plant," Clark replied, "Is that true?"

"Yeah yeah," Gabe nodded, "That's where we do the alien autopsies." He laughed as I rolled my eyes again, "I think we better get started."

"Don't encourage him," Chloe groaned.

"This way everybody," Gabe told us, "All right, people, let's stay together."

"Buddy system?" Jamie muttered as he leant his head down towards mine, his lips brushing against my ear making me laugh and pull away slightly. My gaze landed on Pete who was frowning at us from the other side of Clark and Chloe.

"Watch out for these babies," Gabe told us, pointing at a load of pipes, "262 degrees, they get hot." I rolled my eyes as we walked single file down the hallway to avoid the pipes, jumping slightly as Jamie held on to my waist, slipping his hands up my shirt slightly as he pressed his chest against my back.

"So, we should go out tonight," he whispered in my ear before nipping at my earlobe. "Maybe pick up where we left off?"

"I'll think about it," I told him as I pulled away slightly, biting at my lip.

"This is it," Gabe told us as we walked through a double door, "The plant's mission control. 100,000 tons of animal waste is processed here every year. Trust me, the results can be pretty explosive. So if any of you had beans for lunch, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Some of the other students laughed, including Jamie as I rolled my eyes once more.

"Among his peers he's considered witty," Chloe sighed.

"Mm-hmm," Pete laughed, "Where's Clark?" I turned my head towards him before looking around finally noticing Clark wasn't with us. A frown etched its way on to my face as I thought that over Clark usually included me in things.

Rattling started up from a side room making me turn my head, "What the heck? Excuse me," Gabe commented as he started for the door, only before he got there Earl walked through it, with a gun.

"Don't move!" Earl warned everyone, aiming the gun at Gabe's head. "Take me to Level 3. Now!"

Jamie pulled me backwards, his arms slipping around me as he held me close to him, "Jamie," I muttered.

"It's gonna be okay," he muttered back as he ran a hand through my loose hair.

"Earl," I called as I pulled out of Jamie's arms, Jamie frowned at me as I walked forwards, freezing as Earl moved to aim his gun at me. "Earl can't you just put the gun down? We can figure this out without threats."

"Move back Isabelle," he told me warningly, I frowned at him. "Move Isabella, and don't involve yourself. I don't want to hurt you, but I will if I have to."

He made us all sit down by the wall, Jamie planting himself on one side of me as Pete sat on my other side, Chloe next to him. "I swear, I don't know anything about Level 3," Gabe told him making me bite at my lip in worry.

"You're lying," Earl snapped at him.

"He's not lying!" Clark shouted as he walked in with blueprints. "I found these blueprints. There is no Level 3."

Earl took the blueprints off of him and opened them up on a table as I sent Clark a look, Clark replied by shaking his head, telling me to let it go. "Every night, I go down to Level 2, I follow the red pipes down that long hallway, I go to the door, I open it and I take the elevator down to Level 3," he explained before turning to Clark. "You're just like everybody else. Now you get over there and you sit down." Clark moved towards us taking a seat between me and Pete.

"What the hell is going on?" I hissed at him as Jamie turned around to mutter something to Whitney on the other side of him.

"Earl says Level 3 made him sick," Clark replied, "I checked, there is no Level 3." I bit at my lip and turned towards Gabe and Earl as the phone rang. Gabe answered it.

"Lionel Luthor," he told Earl.

"Speaker," Earl replied as I leant my head on Jamie's shoulder, he turned his head and pulled me closer to him. "Mr Luthor, I've finally got your attention, haven't I?"

"Earl, why don't you come out?" Lionel asked, "We've got a lot to talk about."

"Just tell me what you were using down on Level 3," Earl told him angrily.

"You're sick Earl," Lionel replied, "Let everyone go. We'll get you help." I sat up straight as Ear started to shake violently, holding on to a gas valve to steady himself.

"Earl," I yelped as I got up, running over to him against the protests of the other students. "Earl?" He broke the valve off, his arm shooting backwards, colliding hard with my stomach, tossing me backwards.

"Izzy!" a few voices shouted as I yelped and landed with a groan on the other side of the room, my eyes closing in a wince.

"See what you made me do? See what you made me do?" Earl shouted as he looked up at a camera, "See what you made me do?"

"Izzy?" I heard as I pushed myself to a sitting position with a groan before I slid myself back to the group, letting Jamie pull me to sit on his lap.

"Are you okay?" he asked me quietly as I curled into his chest, I nodded as I swapped a look with Clark who was giving me a concerned look.

"Your methane gas-valve just broke," Earl told Lionel over the phone, "The whole place is gonna go up."

"We need to do something," Whitney commented quietly.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Clark replied.

"That man's nuts," Whitney countered, "He's not listening to the cops and that methane gas is gonna blow."

"Whitney, I don't want you to get hurt," Lana told him in concern.

"I'm not putting my life in that man's hands," Whitney told her, "Three of us can take him no problem. How about it, Clark, Jamie?"

"I'm in," Jamie nodded as he glanced at me.

"Jamie..." I started.

"I'll be fine," he told me softly as I frowned at him, I nodded with a sigh. "Clark?"

"I can't," Clark muttered.

"It's okay," Lana told him as I turned my head towards him, nodding slightly as Jamie shifted me off of his lap, standing up with Whitney. "Guys..."

"Lana it's okay," I told her as they started towards him.

"Luthor, I trusted you," Earl looked at the camera, "You told me you were trying to help people." I sat forward as he turned his head, "What are you two doing?"

Lana let out a yelp as Earl pistol-whipped Whitney, before turning it on Jamie who knocked it out of his hands. Earl punched Jamie in the face, sending him to the floor beside Whitney. "Jamie/Whitey!" Lana and I yelped as Earl retrieved the gun.

"It's all, your fault, Luthor," Earl snapped at the camera as I slid over to the guys, Whitney groaned and sat up as Jamie hissed.

"Are you guys okay?" I asked them, they swapped a look before nodding getting up so I could help them back over to the group.

It was around ten minutes later that the doors opened, making me look up to see Lex enter wearing a bulletproof vest. "What kind of man sends his own kid to do his dirty work?" Earl sneered at him as I ran a finger under Jamie's eye which was definitely going to bruise.

"I'm not doing anybody's dirty work, Earl," Lex replied, "This is my plant." He looked towards us, "How are you three?"

"Whitney needs a doctor," I replied simply.

"What are we gonna do about these kids, Earl?" Lex asked as he turned back to him.

"I never meant to hurt anybody," Earl told him, "I tried talking to your father, but he wouldn't listen to me."

"I know the feeling," Lex told him as he took his vest off, "Earl, you say that everybody's been lying to you. I'm gonna tell you the truth. My father doesn't care about you. He doesn't care about anybody in this room. Because if we all die, his PR firm will spin it, his insurance company will pay out, and you, Earl, will go down as the bad guy."

"I'm not the bad guy," Earl told him, "I'm just trying to get better."

"How are you gonna get better by killing a bunch of kids?" Lex asked him, "If you let everybody go, I'll take you to Level 3."

"You stop lying," Earl told him, aiming the gun at him too.

"Let them go, and I'll show you where it is," Lex told him smoothly. "Earl, trust me. I'm a man of my word." There was a moment of silence as Earl thought it over, finally he turned towards us.

"Get out," he told us all, "Get out, get out! Everybody, get out!"

I scrambled to my feet, pulling Jamie to his before I helped Lana with Whitney as we all started filing out of the plant. "Clark?" I asked as Jamie helped Lana get Whitney out, we were all rushing for the blast doors that were closing slowly.

"I'm gonna go help Lex," he told me, I stopped running. "You go, I'll be okay. Don't worry about me." I sighed and nodded before running back to the door, rolling under it to get out.

"Izzy!" Mom shouted as I got back to my feet. She pulled me into her arms, "Where's Clark?"

"He's still inside," I replied, "I tried to get him to come with but..." she nodded in understanding before turning to Lionel.

"Open the doors," she told Lionel.

"They're safety locked and can't be opened until the gas levels have gone down," Lionel replied as I glared at him.

"My son's still in there!" Mom shouted at him.

"So is mine," Lionel replied simply making my glare darken before I walked over to Jamie who was sat on the back of an ambulance. A blanket was tossed over my shoulder by a paramedic making me frown at him.

"In case of shock," he told me making me sigh and nod before I carried on walking.

"Hey, you okay?" I asked Jamie as I sat next to him, he nodded and turned his head.

"Yeah, I'm okay," he nodded, "You?" I nodded and he smiled before wrapping his arms around my waist, pulling me into his side as he hugged me close.

"I was worried about you," I muttered to him as I rested my head on his shoulder.

"I was worried about you," he replied. "He threw you clear across the room."

"I'm used to falling out of trees and stuff," I told him, "I learnt how to land so I don't hurt myself too much."

We sat curled up together for a while as I watched mom and dad talking to the SWAT agent and Lionel Luthor. After a while the doors opened themselves and Clark walked out with Lex, Clark jogging straight to mom and dad to hug them as Lex walked over to Lionel and glared at him. "I'm gonna go see my brother," I told Jamie, he nodded and pressed a kiss to my temple making me smile at him before I jogged over to my family.

"Hey," I greeted Clark, "You okay?" he nodded as I hugged him.

"Mr Luthor, what can you tell us about Level 3?" a reporter called, making me pull away from Clark and turn towards the crowd.

"I think you're referring to a redundant storage area at the base of the plant," Lionel replied, "Mr Jenkins is a very sick man who desperately needs medical attention..."

"That's why my father and I have pledged to find Mr Jenkins the best medical care possible," Lex interrupted, "He was a LuthorCorp employee and here at LuthorCorp, we always put family first. Isn't that right, Dad?" I smirked as Lionel sent his son a look.

"Mr Luthor, is it true the government is trying to shut you down?" a reporter asked.

"No, no, no," Lionel replied, "No more questions, please. My son has been through quite an ordeal today." I watched as Lionel hugged Lex awkwardly. Lex looked over his dad's shoulder towards us making me give him a sheepish smile, he offered one back.

**AN: Okay, so what do you guys think?**

**I'm getting the feeling as I write that Jamie will be pretty important in Season 1 of this story, let me know what you think of him?**


	9. 09 Rogue

"I'm starting to think you don't like my boyfriend," I commented as I joined Lex's side, he glanced down at me before excusing himself from the rich, probably important guy, he'd been talking to.

"Now what makes you think that?" he asked me curiously, turning fully to face me. I glanced over my shoulder to where Lana and Whitney were sat talking at a table. "Oh, you're wondering why the quarterback was allowed to come and your linebacker wasn't?"

"Something, like that," I nodded in agreement.

"I gave you the option to bring a date," he smirked down at me.

"No, you gave me the option to bring Pete," I corrected. "You're not my dad Lex and you're not my brother either. And even if you were, do you think I'd actually listen to you and dump Jamie? No I didn't think so."

"You and Pete were good together," he told me softly making me frown at him, "You and the jock... not so much." I shook my head slightly and turned to walk away from him, heading for the exit, only for Clark to take my arm and tow me over to a display case with a golden breastplate on it. I glanced over the snake in an S shape in the middle and arched a disbelieving eyebrow.

"You know it belonged to Alexander the Great?" Lex commented as he joined us, making me roll my eyes at him. "They said the design symbolises strength and courage."

"I can't exactly see myself going into battle with that on my chest," Clark replied as he looked at me in confusion.

"Darker times call for darker methods," Lex shrugged. "His opponents thought he was invincible."

"I didn't know you were such a history buff," I commented as I glanced up at him, he glanced down and shrugged.

"I'm not," he replied. "I'm just interested in people who ruled the world before they were thirty."

"And suddenly I'm not surprised anymore," I laughed dryly as I shook my head as Lana joined us.

"Don't worry Lex you still have a few years to go," she told him with a small teasing smile.

"Hey Lana," I greeted lightly.

"Hey Izzy," she smiled as she side hugged me. "Where's Jamie?" I shot Lex a look.

"He wasn't invited," I replied simply making her give Lex a surprised look before she turned to Clark.

"Lana," he nodded in greeting. "I didn't know you were going to be here."

"Didn't Lex tell you?" Lana asked in surprise.

"Must have slipped my mind," Lex shrugged. "Why don't we leave you two alone? I need to have a chat with Izzy." He took my wrist and towed me after him making me frown up at him sullenly.

"What do you want Lex?" I asked him with a sigh.

"Okay, so I don't like your choice in boyfriends," he told me as I turned to face him. "Well actually, I can't fault it. But my point is; you broke up with Pete because he thought you were cheating on him with Jamie, right?" I shrugged non-committed and looked down. "How does it make you look if you start seeing the guy you were accused of cheating with?"

"I don't know Lex, how does it make me look?" I asked him simply.

"It makes it look like the accusations weren't false," he replied. "Either that or you're just using this Jamie kid to make Pete jealous." I clenched my jaw irritably. "Have you slept with him yet?"

"That's none of your business," I replied in a hiss making him give me a reading look.

"I'm going to take that as a no," he commented as I turned my head away from him. "Has he tried...?" I glared up at him, my face flushing. "So that's a yes... how much has he tried?"

"I'm not having this conversation with you," I told him simply before turning to walk away; Lex took a hold of my wrist again.

"If a guy pushes a girl to sleep with him, chances are he's going to dump her afterwards," he told me gently making me glare darkly up at him. "Just keep that in mind." I pulled my wrist from his hold before walking away from him, heading out of the building to calm down and get some air.

"Izzy wait up," Clark called from behind me when I reached the Lobby, making me turn towards him and frown curiously. "What's wrong? You sort of stormed out back there."

"Lex is being an ass," I shrugged it off making him frown.

"What'd he do?" he asked gently as we made for the main doors.

"Nothing," I shrugged. "But according to him, Jamie's going to toss me to the side as soon as I sleep with him." Clark didn't say anything to that, just looked away making me roll my eyes. "And apparently my brother agrees."

"Iz..." Clark sighed as I walked out of the doors and started down the museum steps. "Welcome to Metropolis... more or less." I glanced up at him before following his gaze to a bus stop bench; a homeless man was sleeping on it. "Izzy, you know we're all just trying to look out for you, right?"

I sighed and stopped walking at the bottom of the steps, near the bus stop as I turned to face him. "I don't appreciate you all telling me that my boyfriend just wants me for sex, Clark," I told him simply. "It's not exactly the best feeling in the world, okay?" He sighed and nodded before he looked up, making me follow his gaze.

A bus was making its way towards us, hitting parked cars, headed straight at me and the bus stop. Clark darted forward, grabbing a hold of me before he shielded me from the bus and let the bus hit him in the back, stopping it with his strength. I turned my head towards the museum at the sound of people approaching, making me glance at Clark before we both took off at super speed.

"I don't know what you're talking about Jamie," I sighed into my phone as I walked into the barn the next morning.

"I mean the huge ass bus crash outside the museum you were at last night," he replied making me roll my eyes before looking at Clark who was pulling the generator into the loft with one hand.

"Yeah well, I guess Clark and I had already gone home by then," I told him smoothly, making mom, dad and Clark turn towards me. "Look, Jay... I've got to go. I'll talk to you later."

"Okay sure," he sighed. "Love you."

"You too," I gave my well rehearsed reply to that statement before hanging up.

"So, night owls, how was Metropolis?" mom asked us as I joined Clark's side.

"Fine," Clark replied as I shrugged.

"Come on," mom smiled. "A reception at the Metropolis Museum and it was just fine?" she asked doubtfully.

"The museum was amazing," I told her. "It's just..."

"It's just what?" dad asked as I swapped a look with Clark.

"Something happened," he replied to dad before handing over the newspaper to mom, who showed it to dad. Headline: Metro Bus Crashes Museum Gala.

"It could have been worse," I pointed out. "Clark stopped it before anyone, including me, was hurt."

"Are you two alright?" mom asked us.

"We're fine," Clark nodded as I smiled lightly.

"What if somebody had seen you do it?" Dad asked, making me roll my eyes.

"Everyone was still in the museum," I told him honestly.

"I think it is fine," mom agreed. "There's no mention of any witnesses in the paper." My phone buzzed in my pocket making me glance at the screen to see Chloe's number.

"We should get to school," I commented to Clark, who nodded before we both moved to leave.

"Hey, Clark," Dad called making us both stop. "Look, I am real proud of what you did."

"We both are," mom smiled making Clark smile back before we headed out.

"What did Jamie want?" Clark asked as we walked towards the main doors, just getting to the school on time thanks to super speed.

"He wanted to know if I was okay," I replied. "He assumed I'd been at the crash last night." Clark sent me a look making me send him a 'shut up' look before I moved to my locker. Jamie was leaning against it when I arrived, making me resist an eye roll, turning it into a smile. "Hey."

"Hey," he smiled back as he pulled me towards him, leaning in to catch my lips with his. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I wasn't even there," I told him smoothly making him nod before kissing me again. I smirked against his lips before pulling away from him. "I need to get into my locker loverboy." He chuckled and pushed himself off of it, letting me put my combination in and open it, tensing momentarily as his lips descended on my neck while his arms looped around my waist.

"Jamie," I muttered as I shrugged him off. "Now is not the time, nor the place."

"Yeah I know," he sighed. "But you tend to run out on me whenever we start getting close anywhere else." I chewed at the inside of my cheek as he nuzzled into my neck.

"We tend to have shitty timing," I replied as I grabbed my sketchbook and turned to face him, kicking my locker shut. "Like now, I'm going to be late for class."

A small frown twitched at his lips before he smoothed it out into a smile and pressed a soft kiss to my lips before he backed up and walked off. I frowned at his retreating back, leaning against my locker for a moment before I shook my head. Clark and Lex were making me paranoid. "You ready for class?" Pete asked, popping up practically out of thin air, I jumped slightly before nodding and following him down the hallway to head to art.

I must have still had a frown on my face as we headed to class, because Pete gave me a curious yet worried look. "Are you okay, Iz?" he asked me cautiously, making me glance sideways towards him and shrug. "Did Jamie do something?" Suddenly he sounded angry.

"No," I sighed and turned away. "Well... no, no he didn't. Lex and Clark are being assholes and it's making me paranoid."

"Paranoid about what?" he asked as he took my hand and stopped me from walking, I was definitely going to be late for class.

"Nothing, forget it," I shook my head, he pulled me back as I tried to walk away, ending up with me practically pressed against his chest as he gave me a pointed look. Biting at my lip, I couldn't help but let my gaze snap to his lips.

"Izzy, tell me what's wrong," he sighed at me. "We're still friends, right?" I nodded and snapped myself out of it, backing off a few steps to put some space between us.

"They're convinced he's going to break up with me as soon as I sleep with him," I replied quietly as people walked past us. Pete's frown turned into a glare at the thought of that, "He's not using me Pete, stop glaring." He sighed slightly; his jaw clenched as I took his arm and pulled him along with me to class.

"Chloe got fired from the Torch this morning," Pete told me as we dropped into our seats, making me turn my head and give him a surprised look.

"Why?" I asked him quietly. "Chloe's the only one out of us that can write a decent article."

"Now you know that's a lie," Pete smirked slightly, making me glance at him with a small smile.

"Did I tell you that I'm joining computer club?" I asked him with a smirk, making him give me a disbelieving look.

"You're joking, right?" he asked me with a laugh, making me smirk slightly.

"I chose the college that I'm aiming for," I replied as the teacher gave the assignment. "I'm gonna go to Star City Tech."

"You're gonna go to Star City?" he asked me quickly, I nodded. "We're freshman, why are you even thinking about college?"

"Because, if I want to get into a decent one then I need to start getting my grades up," I shrugged in reply. "I might even join the Robotics club."

"You realise your popularity will just, die right?" he asked me with a smirk, I shrugged at him. "What does your boyfriend think of this?"

"He doesn't know yet," I shrugged with a sheepish smile as I bit at my lip. He arched an eyebrow at me, making me turn to the front before grabbing some paper and my pencil to start.

"Why haven't you told him?" he asked me curiously.

"He wants me to join the Squad," I replied simply. "And he's going to Met U next year, so he wants me to follow him there."

"Your boyfriend is a douche," he told me simply making me roll my eyes at him, suppressing the smile that wanted to spread across my lips.

"He just dropped a generator right on top of you?" I heard as I walked into the house through the kitchen door after hanging out in the coffee shop with Jamie and Whitney, both of whom didn't react, all that amazingly when I told them about my new extra curricula's.

"Who the hell dropped a generator on you? How did they know it wouldn't kill you!" I shouted angrily.

"He saw me stop the bus last night," Clark answered, making me stop dead and give him a horrified look.

"Maybe we should call the police," Mom suggested.

"He is the police," Clark replied. "I saw his badge, Metropolis P.D." I gave him a surprised look. "Dad... look I'm sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen."

"Clark, you didn't do anything wrong," Dad told him.

"He told me to meet him in the Beanery tomorrow," Clark told us before looking at me. "He told me to bring you too."

"I didn't do anything super last night," I commented. "Why would he want me?"

"He said something like 'whatever mom and dad fed me to get me like this, you must be worth meeting too'," Clark shrugged making me frown.

"I don't want either of you going anywhere near this guy," dad told us. "I'll talk to him and I'll find out what he wants."

"Until then...?" I asked.

"Until then, you live your lives and you see your friends," dad replied. "And we're not gonna let this change us." I chewed at my lip before nodding and swapping a look with Clark.

"Uhm, change of subject real quick," I commented nervously making them look up at me. "I joined the computer club and the robotics club today." With that I tossed a grin and headed for the stairs.

"Freeze!" Dad shouted making me stop and turn to face them; all three were giving me suspicious looks.

"Why the sudden interest in extra curricula's?" Mom asked me.

"I chose my college," I replied simply, they gave me 'continue' looks. "I'm gonna go to Star City Tech, and when I graduate, I'm gonna work for Queen Industries."

"Luthor Corp's biggest competitor," dad commented making me cross my arms across my stomach as I nodded. "I'm okay with that."

"Of course you are," I laughed lightly. "If I want to get into Star City, I need to get my grades up and I need computer and robotics clubs to prove that I can do the work once I'm there."

"You're a freshman," Clark pointed out.

"Yeah," I nodded with a shrug. "But we all know I'm no genius... but if I work at it, I can be and there's no doubt I'll get into Star City Tech." This time they let me go to my room, where I dropped off my bag and headed up to the loft to grab my laptop.

I sat on the sofa starting up on the programme that I was supposed to do for computer club as Clark looked through his telescope at the stars. "You look like you're carrying the weight of the world," a voice sounded from the stairs, making me snap my head around to see Lex walking up. "Sorry if I surprised you, but there's really nowhere to knock."

"It's okay," Clark told him as I went back to my work. "Thanks again for last night." He took a step to the side and Lex took over the telescope as I glanced up.

"Your first visit to Metropolis and you're involved in a police investigation?" Lex asked the two of us. "That has to be some kind of record."

"How'd you know about that?" I asked curiously as I looked up, he turned his head.

"The detective in charge came to see me first," he replied.

"What'd he tell you?" Clark asked curiously.

"Not much," Lex shrugged. "Maybe that's what's bothering me."

"What do you mean?" I asked curiously.

"Metropolis police usually don't send detectives to investigate traffic accidents," was the reply. "So I made a call. Turns out the official investigation is already closed. Do you really want Sam Phelan in your life?"

"You know him?" Clark asked.

"Unfortunately," Lex nodded. "I had my share of legal problems when I was in Metropolis."

"Serious?" I asked with a smirk.

"Expensive," he replied. "Phelan was the kind of officer my father felt we could turn to for help."

"You're saying he's a dirty cop?" Clark asked him as my laptop beeped; I glanced back down and started typing again.

"I'm saying he'll do whatever it takes to get the job done," Lex told us, his gaze on me curiously as I carried on typing. "Plant evidence, falsify reports, anything is fair game and if he's got something on you two, he'll use it."

"He just wanted to talk," Clark told him.

"Then you've got nothing to worry about," Lex told him simply before glancing at me. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," I shrugged non-committed, "Just some stuff for Computer Club."

"You're in computer club?" Lex smirked in amusement.

"Why does everyone find that surprising?" I asked with a sigh.

"Chloe wanted to talk to you about the Torch by the way," Clark commented, making me glance up at him before nodding and pulling my phone out to dial her.

"Hello?" Chloe asked as I held my phone between my ear and my shoulder.

"Hey," I smiled lightly, "Clark said you wanted me for something."

"Kwan fired me off the Torch," she told me sadly.

"Pete told me," I sighed sympathetically. "What do you need me to do?"

"Lana's going to talk to Kwan for me," she replied. "But if that fails, I want you to take over as Editor."

"Chloe," I sighed irritably, making Clark and Lex give me a curious look. "I'm kind of a little bit busy to take up the editor position."

"I thought you liked writing for the Torch," she sighed.

"I do," I told her honestly as I entered the next code. "How about, if Kwan makes me Editor, I pass the reigns to you. The only thing that will change is the fact that my name is down as editor. We do what we do now, you stay in charge."

"That's exactly what I was suggesting," she replied, an obvious grin on her face from the tone she was using.

"Then we can deal with that," I told her.

"What's with the new techno nerd identity I hear about?" she asked curiously, making me stop typing and frown slightly. "Pete told me." She explained to my silence.

"I'll tell you all about it tomorrow," I told her with a sigh, "But I need to get back to this project."

"Okay," she laughed. "I'll talk to you in the morning." With that we hung up and I tossed Lex and Clark a 'mind your own business' look before going back to my typing.

"Okay, I'm here," I said as I walked into the Torch the next morning, messenger bag slung over my shoulder as I struggled to juggle all the papers and notebooks I had in my hands.

"Hey," Chloe and Clark greeted, Clark taking some of the things out of my hands and putting them at my computer.

"Thanks," I smiled at him before turning to Chloe. "Have you heard anything about Lana's meeting with Kwan yet?"

"No, not ye..." she started.

"Hey," Lana suddenly greeted, making us turn to her.

"How'd it go?" Chloe asked her.

"Well, it's interesting," she replied.

"Bottom line it," I replied. "When can the next issue go out?"

"Day after tomorrow," she replied making me nod and turn to Chloe who was grinning. "Only thing is, Kwan said you're still fired. You need to find a new editor."

"We already have," I replied before grinning pointedly.

"You're taking up editor as well as the two clubs you started yesterday?" Lana asked in shock. "Even you're not that good."

I shrugged, "I'm doing a favour for a friend," I told her. "Plus Chloe's still in charge, just my name is going to replace hers." I glanced at my watch. "Gotta go, I need to meet up with Eric and Ian before class."

"Eric and Ian?" Clark asked, "Since when...?"

"They're in the computer club with me," I shrugged simply before walking out.

I stood at Eric's locker with the two of them, smirking over Ian's programming idea as he showed us on his laptop. "So let me guess, computer game programming?" Eric asked as he glanced at me.

"Satellite enhancement actually," I smirked as I leant back against his locker, the two of them gave me shocked looks. "Or at least that's what I'm hoping it'll turn out to be."

"You know that we can help, right?" Ian suggested with a smirk, I shrugged and nodded.

"Let me try on my own first," I told him, "If I need your help, then I'll ask." He nodded in agreement before looking up and frowning slightly making me follow his gaze down the hall. Jamie and Whitney were walking towards us, mocking glints in their eyes.

"Baby, what are you doing here with the techno geeks?" Jamie asked as he walked over and pulled me away from the locker, his arms wrapping around my waist as he nuzzled his face into my neck. I shrugged him off and turned to face him angrily.

"These techno geeks, as you call them, are my friends," I told him irritably. "And I happen to be one of them so I'd watch what you say about them from now on."

"Come on, baby," he smirked, stepping closer to me; I took a step back, closer to Eric and Ian.

"No," I glared. "I'm angry at you right now. Maybe I'll forgive you if you come up with a decent apology for once instead of just expecting me to let it slide."

"You're gonna be late for Art," Eric commented, making me glance around at him with a small smile.

"Then I'll see you guys at lunch," I told the two of them. "We can meet in the computer lab, I'll show you what I've got up to now." Eric grinned and nodded as Ian smirked slightly.

"Satellite enhancement?" Ian asked at lunch as I went through the programme, "Translated into, hacking into Luthor Corp and Queen Industries unnoticed, right?"

"Something, like that," I shrugged with a small smile. "It should let me hack into anything I want to hack into... I just need Mr Queen's permission to use his satellite to test it."

"Which he's never going to give you," Eric pointed out as he sat on a seat next to me and stated to type at my computer to look through the programming.

"So, can I ask, why the sudden interest in all things techno?" Ian asked curiously, making me glance at him as he worked on the computer one over from mine, I got up and dropped into the seat next to him instead.

"I need it for college," I shrugged, making him give me a surprised look. "What? You think you're the only one who's starting early?"

My phone buzzed in my pocket, making me roll my eyes before pulling it out and flipping it open, "What's up Clark?" I asked curiously.

"Phelan found me," he replied. "I need you to meet us at the Beanery."

"What happened?" I asked as I stood up leaning over my computer, pushing Eric out of the way so I could shut it down and take the memory drive.

"He threatened mom and dad," he replied making me straighten up, my eyes narrowing in a glare.

"I'll see you guys later," I told the two of them before grabbing my things and leaving. "I'll be there in a flash."

A few minutes later I skid to a stop outside the Beanery, turning my head to see Clark sat in a car with some guy I assumed was Phelan. "Get in, kid," Phelan told me, nodding to the backseat making me frown slightly.

"Izzy, just, get in," Clark sighed at me making me glower before I slid in. Once I was in the car Phelan started driving and I turned my curious gaze to the back of Clark's head.

I didn't get much explained to me, we ended up in Metropolis, Phelan pulling the car up outside of a dark building. "What are we doing here?" I asked irritably.

"You want to know the biggest obstacle in my job?" Phelan asked us. "It's not the perps, it's the bureaucracy. I mean, how am I supposed to fight crime with one hand tied behind my back?"

"I thought you said we were going after bad guys," Clark commented, making me frown, at least he got some info out of him.

"Oh we are," Phelan nodded. "They're called Internal Affairs. In fact, the head of the IA division lives right up there on the fifth floor."

"We're not gonna hurt anybody," Clark told him angrily.

"Relax," Phelan smirked. "You're just gonna help me retrieve some files. You see, these IA types, they have a real trust problem. It turns out the deputy chief keeps all of his most sensitive case files at home. The man's got a safe, so you find it, you open it and you bring me whatever's inside. You do this one thing for me, and I'll never trouble you again."

"I know what you're about Phelan," Clark told him. "Lex Luthor told us."

"Well, your friend Lex isn't exactly on the side of the angels," Phelan told us. "He's got his secrets just like you. It's apartment 517."

I bit my lip and glanced at Clark before nodding, we both climbed out of the car and headed up, me phasing us through the door before Clark used his x-ray vision to look for the safe. "Toss the safe," I told him simply, Clark nodded before pulling the safe out of the wall, I reached inside and pulled out a file before Clark tossed the safe out of the window aiming for the car.

"Hey Phelan," Clark shouted down before super speeding down to him, me beside him as I held the file out.

"You want you file?" I asked. "It's all yours." With that I pressed it into this chest as sirens approached.

"Did you call them?" Phelan asked us, I smirked before the two of us took off at super speed.

"Morning guys," Clark's voice greeted ahead of me as I walked down the stairs, yawning and pulling my hair up into a messy ponytail.

"What time did you two get in last night?" Mom asked us. "I didn't hear you."

"Uh late," I replied. "We were in the Torch, we lost track of time."

"Has... has Phelan tried to contact either of you?" Dad asked us as I grabbed a piece of his toast.

"Don't worry daddy," I smiled at him. "I think he's out of our lives for good." A knock sounded on the door, making me turn to see Ethan and Bob, two cops, looking at us through the screen door.

"Ethan, Bob," Dad greeted, "What's going on?"

"We got a warrant," Ethan replied. "It's a warrant to search your property, Jonathan."

"A warrant?" I asked in shock.

"Come on in," Dad told them. "What for?"

"We got a tip from Metropolis PD," Ethan replied as another cop walked in.

"You'd better come and take a look at this," he told Ethan, Bob and dad. I followed them to the barn, where my gaze landed on a man with a bullet hole in his chest.

"Oh, my God," I muttered as I backed off, paling at the sight of a dead body in the barn.

"Looks like he was shot in the heart," Ethan pointed out. "You want to explain to me what a dead body's doing in your barn, Jonathan?"

"I have no idea," dad replied. "I've never seen that man before."

"Ethan," the other cop called. "We found this hidden under the seat in the truck." He held up a plastic bag with a gun in it making my jaw drop.

"That is not my gun," dad told them. "And I have no idea how it got in my truck."

"I'm sorry, Jonathan," Ethan told him. "We're gonna have to place you under arrest."

"Daddy..." I started as Clark walked in, just in time to see Ethan cuffing dad.

"It's all right," dad told us. "Call Bill Ross, have him meet me at the jail." I nodded before backing out of the barn as Clark moved forward angrily.

I bit my lip and watched as they put dad in the police car, mom getting into her car to follow them. I glanced around to make sure everyone was gone before I took off at super speed to the Ross' house. I slammed my hand on the door as soon as I got there, Pete pulling it open after a few seconds. "Izzy, what are you...?" he started to ask, but I pushed past him.

"Where's your dad?" I asked him quickly as I walked through the hall, Bill popped his head out of the kitchen.

"Isabelle," he greeted. "What is it?"

"My dad's just been arrested for murder," I replied making him give me a shocked look. "Someone planted a dead body and a gun on the farm, Mr Ross. You need to go to the jail and get him out. Please?" I had desperate tears glittering in my eyes.

"I'm already on my way," he told me quickly before rushing back into the kitchen to talk to his wife as Pete turned me around to face him. I sniffled slightly, making him sigh before pulling me into his chest, letting me bury my face in his neck as I clung to him.

I went to school with Pete, finding my things in my locker thanks to Clark. We stood at my locker, Pete's hand on my arm as he tried to comfort me, when Jamie walked up with a gang of the jocks. "Ross, I'd take your hands off my girl if I were you," was the greeting we got from him, making me glance up at him with a dark glare.

Pete dropped his hand from my arm with a frustrated sigh as Jamie pulled me towards him, "Why the long face babe?" he asked me curiously.

"Well number one, I'm still pissed at you, so take your damn hands off of me," I growled at him angrily as I pushed him away from me. "Secondly, none of your damn business is what's wrong with me." I turned and took Pete's wrist, pulling him down the corridor with me.

"What the hell is your problem all of a sudden?" Jamie shouted after me, making me stop and turn to face him, the anger I'd been feeling the past few days for him and for Lex and for Phelan was quickly moving from simmer to boil as I felt my body start to heat up.

"Ah," Pete suddenly hissed, pulling his wrist out of my hold, holding it as he gave me a shocked look. I tossed him a guilty look before I threw Jamie and the jocks a dark glare again and took off down the corridor.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck," I muttered to myself as I rushed out of the school, I could still feel my body heating up.

"Izzy, what the hell was that?" Pete asked as he ran after me, making me turn around and back away from him quickly as I shook my arms, begging myself to calm down enough so I wouldn't light up in front of him. "Izzy?"

"I'm sorry," I told him quickly, "I didn't... I shouldn't... I'm..." A tear trickled down my cheek at the thought of hurting him again, making me back off again as he tried to approach me.

"Izzy, it's me," he told me gently, holding his hands up in a surrender position, my gaze snapped to his arm where a pinkish handprint stood out against the rest of his skin. "It's okay, just tell me what's wrong."

"I hurt you," I muttered as he walked up to me, he reached out to touch me, making me flinch away.

"Tell me how," he asked me softly as I bit my lip. I looked up at him with wide, scared eyes. "Iz, I'm not gonna think any different of you. Are you... did you get infected by the meteors?" I nodded slowly as I dropped my gaze. "How long?"

"During the shower," I replied quietly making him freeze as I closed my eyes and waited for him to freak out.

"You didn't tell me," he sighed sadly.

"I didn't know how you'd react," I replied quietly, feeling my body cool down as I started to feel more upset than angry. "I'm sorry." He let out a sigh before reaching for me tentatively, his hand rested on mine before he let out a sigh when he realised I wasn't going to burn him again. With that he pulled me into his arms, letting me cling to him again as I buried my face in his neck, his arms holding me close as he ran a hand through my hair. "I should have told you."

"It's okay," he muttered into my hair. "I get it... nothing's gonna change the way I feel about you, Iz." I nodded into his neck as I closed my eyes and let a few tears fall down my cheek and on to his neck.

"Um, what's...?" Chloe's voice suddenly asked, making me pull away from Pete to see her and Clark watching us in surprise. I wiped my cheeks and smiled weakly at them.

"Izzy's just worried about her dad," Pete replied as he draped his arm around my shoulders, making me rest my head on his shoulder and smile at him thankfully.

"I'm gonna go see him," Clark told me. "You want to come with?"

I shook my head slowly as I bit at my lip, "I'd rather not see him in an orange jump suit," I replied simply making him sigh before he nodded and headed off. Chloe looked at me sadly before nodding for us to follow her.

"I need my 'editor' to look over the layout for tomorrows Torch," she smirked at me, making me smile back lightly before I pulled away from Pete as she started off to the school again.

"Thanks," I smiled at him. "I figured..."

"No," he smiled at me as he rested his hand on my cheek. "I'm not going anywhere, I'm not mad at you... and if you ever need me, I'll be there." I blushed lightly before leaning in to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth, pulling away quickly and walking off before I did something I'd regret.

"Is it just dad that had you upset today?" Clark asked as he joined me that night, sitting next to me on the steps of the loft. I glanced sideways to him and let out a small breath before nodding my answer. "How about you tell me the truth this time?" I shot him a look.

"You busy, Clark, Isabelle?" a voice asked, making me look up to see Phelan walking in.

"What do you want from us?" I asked angrily.

"That's complicated," he replied. "After last night, I've got Internal Affairs asking me more questions that I want to answer."

"It's your problem," Clark told him.

"No, it's our problem," he replied. "But our next bit of business is gonna be our last."

"Look, I don't care," Clark told him as he stood up. "You can tell the whole world about me."

"Clark, you may not care about yourself, but think about your parents," he told him. "Now, your father's in jail on a murder charge, and whether he beats it or not, he's gonna lose this farm just paying legal fees. I can still make all that go away." He snapped his fingers to indicate how fast. "So what's it gonna be?"

I swapped a look with Clark before sighing as he nodded to me. We followed him out of the barn to his car and climbed in.

A little while later we pulled up outside of the Metropolis Museum, making me look up at it with a frown. "What are we doing here?" I asked curiously.

"Since I couldn't pick up my Internal Affairs records, I figured it was time to pick up my retirement package," he replied simply.

"The breastplate," Clark confirmed. "You want us to steal it for you?"

"I don't give a damn about the breastplate," Phelan told us. "I just want the ten million dollars worth of jewels that are on it. Come on." He climbed out, so Clark and I swapped a look before following suit.

"So we're just gonna bust in?" I asked plainly.

"Not quite," he replied. "See, Metropolis PD keeps blueprints on all high-security buildings in the city, so I know this place better than the architect. The security system all runs through this junction box." He indicated it with his flashlight. "Open it up."

"Is it alarmed?" Clark asked curiously.

"They only alarm things they think somebody could get through," Phelan replied simply. "Clark, I'm getting bored with this. You want your old like back, you do it." I frowned slightly but Clark bent back the metal of the box.

"Cameras are one thing," I commented. "What about the guards?"

"They're about to get real busy," he replied as he dialled his cell phone. "Yeah, Metropolis Museum? You have two minutes to leave the building. There's a bomb outside."

After that he hung up and turned to the junction box and stared at the wires for a few seconds with wire clippers in his hands. "You gonna clip them or what?" I asked him irritably, he tossed me a look. "You don't know what ones to clip, do you?"

He didn't answer, so I took the clippers from him and trailed my fingers across the wires before clipping a few. "They cameras are dead in Luthor Hall," I commented as I handed him the wire cutters back.

We headed inside after that, surrounding the breastplate display which was surrounded by bars. "Kid, show me the magic," he told Clark who bent the bars apart and punched through the glass before stepping back to stand next to me as Phelan took the breastplate.

"We are gonna make a great team," Phelan commented as he put it in a bag and zipped it shut, he looked through the wall before glancing at me and nodding. I smirked and took a step back.

"We'll never be a team, Phelan," I told him simply as Clark grabbed the bag and tossed it through a high window. "You might be able to explain the safe, but your fingerprints are all over that breastplate."

"You might be strong, but you're not bulletproof!" Phelan snapped at us as he pulled a gun out. I grabbed Clark's hand as he fired, letting the bullets pass straight through us, shattering more display cases before we took off at super speed as security guards approached.

"All the charges were dropped on dad," Clark told me as he walked into the Torch the next morning, "He got home this morning just after you left." I grinned at him and nodded. "Why the hurry to get to school anyway?"

I handed him the day's issue of the Torch with a big bold headline: Kwan Crushes Freedom of Speech. "He's gonna kill you," he commented making me shrug as he chuckled. "I'll see you after class, Izzy."

"See ya Clark," I smirked at him before turning back to the computer to write another article to piss of Kwan.

"Miss Kent!" he snapped as he walked in. "What's this?" He was waving around one of the papers making me give him an apathetic look.

"It's a news story," I replied simply.

"It's unacceptable," he snapped at me.

"Why?" I asked him. "It covers all the criteria. It deals with a student, a school-sponsored club, and there are no mutants in sight."

"Did you do this because you thought I'd reinstate Miss Sullivan?" he asked me.

"I did this because it's the right thing to do," I replied simply as I stood up to face him, folding my arms across my chest. "Chloe was born for this job."

"Although I do admire her passion, her reporting lacks accuracy," Kwan told me.

"I can work on that," Chloe commented as she walked in, joining my side.

"If you want your job back, Miss Sullivan, don't print what you can't prove," he told her firmly. "Do we have a deal?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "Thank you, Principal Kwan."

"Don't thank me," he told her. "Thank Miss Kent." With that he left and I smirked at Chloe who threw her arms around me.

"I knew you could get me this job back," she told me happily as I grinned. "Even with the other extra curricula's."

"Yeah well," I shrugged. "This is your paper, it's your thing. And it's the only thing you get to do with Clark." She blushed making me grin at her.

"It's the only thing you get to do with Pete," she countered making me flinch slightly and shrug. "What's going on with you and Jamie now-a-days anyway?"

"I'm still waiting for an apology," I replied smoothly. "If I get one, we're good. If I don't... well you saw what happened with Pete."

"Speaking of Pete..." she started. There was a knock on the doorframe making me turn to see, a sheepish looking Jamie, holding a purple tulip. "Never mind." I glanced at Chloe and she nodded before walking past him as he walked over to me.

"I'm sorry," he told me softly. "I shouldn't have said anything about your computer club friends. I shouldn't have laughed at the fact you joined in the first place. I shouldn't have tried to start an argument with Pete, because I know you're still friends with him and he means a lot to you. I'm more, sorry than you can possibly believe." He handed me the tulip and looked down at me with hopeful eyes. "I miss having you around Iz and it feels like someone rips my heart out of my chest every time you look at me like I mean nothing to you." A tear slid down my cheek as I lowered my gaze.

Talk about a decent apology for once, "Babe," he muttered, lifting my chin. "Please..." I smiled lightly and moved to my tiptoes to press my lips against his, my arms looping around his neck as his slid around my waist to hold me to him.

"I knew there was a reason I kept you around," I smirked as I pulled away slightly. He grinned back before lifting a hand to wipe my tear from my cheek with his thumb.

"I love you Iz," he muttered to me, I blushed lightly and I smiled before deciding on my answer.

"I love you too," I told him finally, making a grin spread across his face before he leant in and locked his lips on mine, making me grin against them. Just before I let my eyes flicker closed, my gaze shifted to the door of the Torch, where Pete was stood... I froze at the sight of the devastated expression on his face. I pulled away from Jamie slightly to say something to Pete but he just shook his head and walked off as Jamie nuzzled his face into my neck.

**AN: So sorry it took so long, I've been really distracted lately! Hope you enjoyed it, let me know what you think about the Jamie/OC/Pete triangle.**


	10. Authors Note

**AN:**

**Hello my lovely readers dearest. I know you hate these Author Note chapters but this is an important one! I'm going to do a rewrite of all the chapters I've written so far. Don't worry, the story won't change much, but I re-read them and I'm thinking I can make Izzy better than she is. Until I've done the re-write there will be no new chapters unfortunately, please don't hate me!**

**6.7.I.M.P.A.L.A.L.O.V.E.**


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